Verge of Something Wonderful
by Ladye
Summary: Ryo & Dee have an unusual assignment. An empty house, unusual disturbances, and lots of time alone.
1. Prelude

Title: Verge of Something Wonderful

Pairings: Dee/Ryo

Disclaimer: FAKE and its characters are the property & creation of Sanomi Matoh. I am just borrowing them momentarily. All Original Characters that appear are my creation.

You can live an entire life and never truly feel alive at all. Sometimes a tragedy breaks down your defenses and the only thing left is the muted sensation of life washing over you, detached and aloof. Ryo supposed he had a bit of both working against him and he used his work as a detective to fend off the weight and the quiet. Dee, however, made it difficult to hold the thin line between deliberate repression and Ryo living through his work. Dee lived intensely and with vindication, his middle finger raised and at ready for anyone or anything that thought he would ever go quietly into that good night. He had a way of crashing into boundaries that you let you know that even if he apologized it was deliberate and he wasn't the least bit sorry. Dee made everything difficult, Ryo should be exasperated with him and his antics and disregards, but Dee made Ryo feel 'something', unnamed and confusing. It was a hint of smoke and the smallest lick of a flame in the damp coolness of his quelled inner sanctuary, having felt it Ryo wasn't convinced he could do without it, wasn't positive he would rather give it up than risk being burned by it. Being burned was something at least, it had as much vitality to it as it did destruction, it lit nerves and teased receptors, it felt akin to being fully alive, if painfully so. Ryo wanted so badly to feel all the things Dee could make him feel but was equally as scared and cautious.

Such inner chaos has a way of working itself into our daily lives, tendrils of forgetfulness, moments of a drifting mind when attention was called for, and minor mistakes that compile into larger and larger problems. Ryo knew he was slipping up at work, not so much or so dangerously that a person's life or a case were jeopardized but enough that both Commissioner Rose and Chief Smith had taken notice. Predictably Rose was all too eager to play it off as Dee's bad influence and worse behavior, a convenient excuse for breaking into the partner's work together and inserting himself in between them. Chief Smith being both older and more experienced with the type of man Dee was suspected Dee was at the root of it as well just not in a way that his Commissioner would be happy to hear about. It was Ryo's good fortune that it was the Chief who called him on it first even if it was utterly abrupt. Ryo stood on the roof, staring out at nothing, listening to nothing, losing himself in the white noise of traffic and city life, letting the one sided conversation play over and over again in his head.

"You have to choose Randy. Either you get your act together and figure out what you want or I'll have no choice but to split you two and if I do, as much as I hate it, it'll be you that gets transferred. Laytner's a pain in the ass. Rose is too. I partner you with anyone else and there will be no peace for you or the department, it'll be an all out war between those two meatheads with you as the prime objective. " Chief's thick hand held in the air had cut off any reply from Ryo. He didn't say anything else, ignoring the blush staining Ryo's face and neck, and dismissed him.

He had to make a choice, it made no difference that he hadn't asked for this, that he wasn't ready for this, it hadn't mattered that he wanted his private life to remain so or that he had asked for neither of their attentions. Chief knew it was harder than a simple choice, if Ryo completely rejected Dee their partnership at work would collapse, if he accepted Dee's advances, Rose would find out and split them up. He would lose Dee either way but if he didn't make a choice he would be transferred out of the department he was committed to and away from Dee. Rose was never in the running but nothing could convince him otherwise, not even Ryo's fist, his continual manipulations and grandstanding had aggravated an already precarious situation causing Dee to push Ryo harder. Everything was coming undone and part of him hated both men just a little for putting him in this uncomfortable and uncomfortably public place.

He just didn't know what to do. Everyone wanted him to know, right here, right now, so that their lives would be easier and they all wanted him to choose in their favor. He didn't want to lose Dee as a partner at work, he didn't want to lose Dee as a friend, he wasn't sure he was ready to be Dee's lover, wasn't even sure of his own sexuality anymore, so how was he suppose to make a decision? Maybe it would best for everyone if he quietly put in for a transfer and hoped that it would not bring down Rose on his head or Dee on his back. He was still mulling over things when the door to the roof banged open and Dee walked out calling to him.

"Hey dude, Chief's looking for you again, says he wants to talk to both of us about a special assignment. Said to come find you and drag your skinny butt back into his office. I tried to tell him your butt wasn't skinny but he said that was too much information." Dee pointed a thumb over his shoulder towards the door and cocked an eyebrow. "You comin'?"

Ryo frowned but pushed himself off from the ledge and followed Dee back inside. "Yeah, I coming Dee."

Later that night, after all the necessary phone calls were made to assure Bikky would be taken care of, after Ryo had once again given into to Dee sleeping on the couch, Ryo sat up alone in bed, flipping through the assignment folder again and wondered just what their Chief was up to with this. Tomorrow he and Dee would be taking a trip down into the coastal southern states to check out unexplained disturbances in a house that was being renovated by a retired commissioner as a vacation rental property. Apparently the gentleman still had significant clout within the police department and was a good friend of not only their Chief but several members of the Mayor's office, enough pulling power that two NYC detectives were being sent on a two week trip to play at being glorified security guards.

This was most definitely not detective work, not real detective work anyways. Chief claimed it was because him and Dee were the only ones without a currently pressing case having just come off a joint operation with the FBI which left them at a standstill until the Feds were done. He didn't believe that was the only reason. He couldn't decide if he was being punished or if Chief thought it would give him the time to figure things out with Dee. Ryo put his glasses and the folder on his night stand and turned out the light. Rolling over on his side, he settled down for the night, willing himself to get some sleep. Tomorrow had all the signs of being a very long day, possibly a very long two weeks.


	2. Things That Go Bump In The Night

Ryo was sleepy, sunlight painted his skin a golden hue and warm, humid air blew his hair into wild strands about his face and neck from the open car window. After their flight landed at the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport Dee had insisted on driving their rental car. Ryo was more than happy to let him take the wheel, he was drowsy with the heat and a too full belly from when they stopped for lunch. Dee could have driven them to the tip of Key West and Ryo wouldn't have minded in the least as long as he got to doze in his seat the entire way. Suburbs and trailer parks gave way to roads lined with pines, the landscape flat and hot. The sameness got to you after a while and with nothing to focus on he let his mind float out into a blurred nothingness. It was almost two hours later when Dee woke him as they pulled up in front of a ranch style brick home sitting by itself out in what looked suspiciously like the middle of no where.

"This is what he's going to turn into a rental property? Who the hell is he expecting to rent it? Someone who can't wait to experience Deliverance for themselves?" Dee snorted.

"Be nice Dee, didn't you read what was in the folder? The area around here is suppose to be developed into a gated community with its own golf course and amenities." Ryo explained.

"Why would I read that stuff, that's what I have you for. So this is going to be one of those places where the snoots in suits keep all us regular joes out while they drive around in their very own golf cart." Dee shrugged and grabbed his luggage. He was already bored with it not caring much what people in gated communities did or why. Two weeks alone with Ryo was far more interesting and with such a secluded place he had all sorts of plans running through his mind that involved Ryo not being able to run away whenever things got to hot between them.

Ryo was thinking something along the same lines, more like what had he let himself get into and was this really such a good idea spending two weeks with Dee and his intentions alone in the middle of a forest of pine trees. His thoughts were interrupted by a woman opening the front door of the house, hand raised to greet them. He pulled his own suitcase out and followed Dee across the yard to where she stood keeping the screened door propped open with her foot.

"Welcome to Georgia. You two look like ya'll a long way from home. They didn't tell me they were sending two such pretty boys out here, guess that makes this my lucky day, huh? Or rather weeks as it were." She had a pleasant accent, not nearly as thick or twangy as TV or movies made you think it would be. A little on the short side, a lot on the heavy side and pushing her late thirties or early forties it was obvious by her tone and the side ways smile on her face that she wasn't really flirting with them. Ryo instantly liked her and by the big grin on Dee's face he thought his partner might like her to, then again being Dee he might just liked being referred to as pretty. "My name's Ellen but everyone calls me Tank, I'm the so called property manager for this place. Which is a glorified way of saying that I live on the property for Mr. Desmont to keep it from being vandalized by either people or by the land taking it back. Nothing like a bad case of kudzu to bring a building down. Come on in and I'll show you around."

She kept the door open until Dee grabbed the frame in his hand and then moved out the way so they could come through, the door banging shut with a quick snap as soon as it was let go nearly catching Ryo on his heels. She ushered them into a room a few decades to old to appeal to any of them. The living room had a fireplace with a fake stone surround, the carpet was a grungy harvest yellow, the drywall had wood paneling covering it and one wall was covered in huge mirror tiles set on the bias, a macrame plant holder in the corner still had a dusty silk plant in it, and to complete the look the furniture was wood frames with cushions sporting a western theme of wagons and wooden wheels.

"You can drop your suitcases in here for now. I'm sure you both need to stretch out a bit after that long ass ride from the airport. I told Mr. Desmont that it would be better to put you up in a hotel for the first night so you were rested before driving all the way out here but he wouldn't listen. Told me I didn't know how tough you New Yorkers were and that this was nothing compared to whatever reference he was making to New York City at the time." She gave them a wide smiled and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm afraid I don't listen to him much once he starts in rambling about home because I only have so much ear and he's prone to talking it off." Ryo couldn't argue with her about the stiffness, his joints were indeed stiff and his butt actually hurt from sitting for so long. The Chief might not have been to far off about his butt being skinny because he definitely wished he had more padding at the moment. Dee was twisting and stretching too, his back audibly popping and his neck cracking with the exertion. Ellen, Ryo couldn't see calling her Tank, laughed and wandered into the kitchen. "Care for something to drink? I have sweet tea, root beer, and coca -cola. And coffee can be made if that's the drug of your choice."

Dee had a hopeful look on his face, one that Ryo knew all too well, it was the look of a coffee drinker being offered real coffee after too many cups of something that was called coffee but didn't live up to its expectations.

" Would coffee be to much trouble?" Ryo asked just as optimistic as Dee.

"Not at all as long as you don't mind me asking one of you two gents to make it. I'm a tea drinker and haven't the foggiest clue how to make coffee but I did buy a machine and some coffee on my way here today just in case. I got filters, cream, sugar and some coffee mugs too." They had both made their way into the kitchen while she talked and Dee already had his hand on the box the coffee maker was in and splitting the tape holding it closed with the rental car's key. Ryo took the offered container of coffee and a set of measuring cups from Ellen, between him and Dee coffee was on in about two minutes and both of them hung out in the kitchen waiting for it to be done. Ellen rinsed out the new mugs she had bought them and set them on the counter before pulling a pitcher of tea out of the refrigerator and getting herself a glass. While they were waiting for it to brew Ryo realized that neither he nor Dee had introduced themselves properly. Aghast at his lack of manners he hastily introduced himself and Dee offering his hand to Ellen who shook it firmly and laughed when Dee interrupted to point out that nobody called Ryo Randy except their Chief and she should call him Ryo to.

"It's a good thing you have your partner in crime with you Ryo otherwise you'd be lost wandering around wondering what your name was." Ellen told him giving him a wink, clearly amused. With a gesture of her hands she pointed them to the kitchen table indicating that they should sit. "I don't know if you boys ate or not on your way in so I took the liberty of picking up some cold cuts while I was at the store. It's a long drive back to anywhere from here and a lot of things will be long time closed before you get there. You'd have to get back to Rincon to find anyplace to eat at or buy any groceries. Ya'll sit down and drink your coffee and have something to eat and I'll tell you about the house."

It was fairly late in the afternoon when they arrived and the sky outside was steadily moving from the blue of day to the dusk of twilight. Sitting around the table and eating sandwiches listening to Ellen as she talked Ryo was struck by just how very quiet it was compared to being in the city. Every noise he heard stood out on its own, dogs barking off in the distance, the cries of birds as they talked to each other from the trees, the trees themselves creaking and whispering when the wind blew through their branches, and sometimes the sound of a car or truck passing by to a destination unknown. Ryo didn't know whether he liked it or not, he just knew that he felt oddly out of place.

After having eaten and after Ryo having insisted on letting him help clean up their mess Ellen showed them each to their rooms, rooms just as frozen in time as the rest of house, they shared a Jack & Jill bathroom done up in pink and silver metallic wallpaper with a matching pink tub, toilet and sink. The tub had sliding glass frosted doors and the sink was sunk into a faux marble top that had yellowed over time and had cigarette burns in several places.

Left by themselves, Ellen having retired to the master bedroom for the night, Ryo sat down on the twin bed in Dee's room gratefully accepting the fresh cup of coffee Dee offered him. Dee curled up Indian style at the head of bed leaning against the headboard with his own cup of coffee.

"So what do you think Ryo? I don't think there is anything to this and we've been sent on a wild goose chase somewhere left of nowhere." Dee said. Ryo nodded his head in agreement thinking the same thing.

"Well, we're here now so we might as well do the job as best we can. This Mr. Desmont is a good friend of the Chief's and it would be stupid to get ourselves in trouble over this. I have to admit though I don't know how much we can realistically do here. Honestly I doubt anyone is breaking into this house in the middle of the night and knocking on doors and dragging items across the floor and then running out before anyone can catch them." Ryo chewed on his bottom lip trying to think of what could be making the noises. "Dee do you think it could be rats in the walls?"

Dee shrugged. "I suppose it could be something like that but remember the noises have been heard during the day too, by the cleaning crew that came in to get this place cleaned up and supposedly by the contractors that came out here to give Mr. Desmont quotes on gutting this place and adding a second story."

"Well geez Dee I have a hard time believing grown men and women ran out of this place because they were scared of a little noise. Maybe Mr. Desmont is right and someone is trying to force him to sell by scaring off the workers before he can remodel it. The land and the house will be worth a lot more than it is now 'specially after the golf course starts to be developed." He was trying to sound neutral because he knew Dee believed in ghosts and the paranormal but he didn't and he wasn't about to start either. The house was not haunted because that was just preposterous, he just hoped Dee continued to see it that way to. Dee stretched out one leg behind Ryo and pulled a pillow onto his lap. Ryo couldn't read his face for an answer.

"I know how you feel about this kind of stuff, you're a skeptic through and through. I guess you think I'm a big baby don't you for believing otherwise." Dee finally said, pinning Ryo with his eyes.

"No Dee, come on, you know I respect your beliefs even if I don't share them." Ryo quickly tried to placate him before Dee got himself into a huff. Dee stretched out his other leg and gently pushed against Ryo's thigh rocking him slightly.

"You come off it first. I know you Ryo." Dee sighed heavily. "However The Ghost Hunters always go into a haunted place as skeptics first, trying to debunk everything first before considering the possibility. So I guess that's what we should do to. Looking at it that way you're the perfect man for the job. Besides I still think we've been sent on a wild goose chase so you can quit trying to tiptoe around me and my silly beliefs in ghosts Mr. Realist. I guess we should get some sleep and start fresh in the morning. To tell you the truth I wanted to take advantage of us being out here alone tonight but I'm too tired to even try. You're safe from ghosts and molestations, at least from me."

Ryo took that as his cue to stand up and make his escape while he could before Dee changed his mind. He ignored the pang of disappointment he felt, after all wasn't that what he wanted? To be left alone and not constantly fighting off Dee's, and for that matter, Roses, inappropriate advances. Ryo distracted himself by making himself busy.

"Here, give me your coffee mug, I'll take it to the kitchen for you." He said as he gently pried the mostly empty mug out of Dee's fingers. "Sleep well Dee."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'd sleep better if you were beside me." Dee told him in a disheartened voice and then rolled over onto his stomach and closed his eyes. Ryo turned off his light on the way out, the pang worse than before.

Mugs rinsed and waiting for the morning, the coffee maker set up to automatically brew a full pot at seven am, and all the doors leading to the outside locked, Ryo made his last rounds before crawling into his own designated bed, a daybed in what obviously used to be a girl's room. Sleep overcame him quicker than he thought it would considering his earlier nap and being in a strange place. In fact he was deep sleep when Dee shook him awake, hovering over his bed in the darkness and whispering urgently for him to wake up. It took him a moment to clear the sleep from his mind and respond to his partner and the tight grip Dee had on his shoulder.

"What is it Dee? What's wrong?" He asked putting his hand over Dee's automatically.

"Shhhhhhhhhh. Listen." Dee's fingers still hard on him as he shushed him. Ryo strained to hear anything out of the norm, minutes ticked by slowly without him hearing anything untoward. He was about to pull Dee down to him and offer to let him sleep in the same bed with him, convinced Dee had just spooked himself, when Ryo heard what sounded like all the cabinets in the kitchen slamming open and closed one right after the other. It was followed by runs of the cabinets opening and closing in multiple pairs and then the sound of dishes being smashed on the floor. Dee's fingers tightened even more and Ryo had to push against him to struggle upright in the bed.

They crept down the hallway together, Ryo in front and Dee creeping behind and staying close. The slamming got louder and louder as they got closer to the kitchen. The door to the master bedroom suddenly flung open just as they were coming through the living room making both men jump before the lamplight spilling out behind her let them know it was Ellen. Before either one of them could take another step or say anything to her she let loose hollering at the top of her lungs.

"KNOCK IT THE HELL OFF. I'M TRYING TO SLEEP." Ryo stared at her gape mouthed and Dee nearly fell into him as it brought him up short. The silence immediately afterwards was as surprising as it was deafening. They watched Ellen stomp into the kitchen and flick the overhead light on, it galvanized both of them into motion and they rushed in behind her, ready to confront a home intruder. They skittered across the linoleum floor into a kitchen empty of anyone except Ellen who had the refrigerator door thrown open and was rather viciously yanking out the pitcher of tea.

"You boys want something to drink seeing as how you're both up now?" She asked as she turned around, sounding tired and annoyed but not the least bit scared or frightened. Ryo looked around at the quiet, non destroyed kitchen, noting nothing out of place, no broken cups or plates, no cabinet doors hanging open. He ignored Ellen and started looking through the cabinets, cupboards and drawers, looking for some kind of audio equipment to explain the racket they had heard. He didn't see Ellen shrug her shoulders and offer Dee a can of coca cola before pouring her own tea and sitting down with it.

"I'd sit down if I were you Ryo. The shows just starting." Ellen said calmly. "You're not going to find anything in those drawers. You're not going to find any dishes or some hidden device. You're a detective right? So figure it out. I had to buy mugs for the both of you because there aren't any dishes in the house. The first three months I lived here for Mr. Desmont six sets of cheap dishes hit the floors and walls. I quit buying them after that because I was tired of the racket. Unfortunately it didn't stop the racket but at least I don't have to clean up the mess now."

Ryo turned and stared at her. Dee had already sunk down into one of the vinyl covered chairs limply holding a soda can and looking more than just a bit frightened. Ryo's jaw tightened.

"It has to be some sort of trick." He stated flatly, he was not going to give into this nonsense. Ellen just shrugged and pulled a pack of Capri cigarettes out of her robe pocket, she shook two out along with a disposable pink lighter, she lit both and offered one to Dee.

"I know these are lady smokes but you look like you need one worse than I do." She held it patiently and gave him a comforting smile once he got to his lips safely and out of his shaky hands. She turned back to look Ryo fully in the face. "I'm sure you're right but I haven't managed to figure it out yet, hope you fare better. Now please sit down, your friend here is not having a good night and you tearing through the kitchen isn't helping. I'm not sure if you two are going to be graced with a full no holds barred presentation or not but if you are it's fixing to get real loud up in here."

Ryo frowned at her but pulled out a chair and plopped down next to Dee anyway, who immediately sidled closer to him. "Fixing?" He asked puzzled by the terminology. Ellen puffed on her cigarette and blew out the smoke before answering.

"About. It's about to get real loud." She elaborated and gave him a grin. "I'm surprised you haven't heard that before, there must be Southerner's in New York City. You sure you don't want a dri…" She was cut off abruptly by what sounded like all the bedroom doors in the house opening and slamming shut simultaneously. Dee visibly paled and pulled harder on his cigarette, his green eyes wide and alarmed. Ellen reached across the table and gave his arm a friendly pat. "It'll be all right Dee, it'll stop in a little bit. Don't worry."

The noise went on for over a couple of hours, you could hear things being dragged across the floor and what sounded like furniture toppling over and crashing into walls. Lights in other parts of the house would randomly turn on and then off again, at one point Ryo thought he heard water running in the master bathroom, it was insane, chaotic, and even for him a bit unnerving. His mind kept rapidly addressing each thing as what it could be, the lights could be on some sort of remote controlled relay, the sounds could have been recorded and hidden speakers placed about the house, anything and everything to dismiss or compartmentalize the unbelievable but even he came up short when he could feel the reverberations from the furniture being slung around. The three of them sat in the kitchen listening to the den until the first hints of dawn arrived, Dee smoking through Ellen's pack of cigarettes at an alarming rate, to afraid to go get his own, Ellen yawning quietly to herself now and then but otherwise undisturbed, and Ryo with his brow knitted into a furrow at the absurdity of the situation. The last thing they heard was the sound of heavy footsteps, straight out of bad horror movie, heading from the master bedroom, through the living room, and to the front door. They heard the door open and the creak of the screen door being pushed followed immediately by the very loud and deliberate slamming of the front door. Loud and hard enough that it was followed immediately by the sound of the key caddy by the door bouncing off the wall and landing on the carpet with a muffled jingle of keys.

Ellen stubbed out her third cigarette, took a few more sips of tea and then stood up. "That's usually it for the welcome wagon, ya'll should be good to go lay back down for a couple hours, which is what I'm going to do but feel free to get up when you want and look around the house and yard. I've got a brand new set of pajamas on bought just so I wouldn't offend any virgin eyes so if you want to look through my room you can, you're not going to bother me. Actually scratch that, I'm going to go crash out on the couch. Not meaning to insult or offend anyone but if I read you two right your welcome to use my bed. It's a queen and I think your partner has about all his nerves can stand for the moment Ryo."

Ellen rinsed her glass out and put it to drain, the coffee maker kicked on and started brewing coffee. It was now startling quiet, the house peaceful in the dim morning light, you could even hear the ticking of a clock coming from the master bedroom. True to her word Ellen made herself comfortable on the couch and was asleep before Ryo could convince Dee to get up and help him look around. They went through the house together one room at a time. Absolutely nothing was out of place, no signs of furniture having been moved, the front door still double locked with a deadbolt and bolt and chain, no sign of anything broken or disturbed whatsoever, even the tub in the master bath was dry as a bone. It was almost like it was all a bad dream that they all had been awake for the only physical evidence he could find being the key caddy on the floor. Ryo gingerly hung it back up on the wall and put the keys back on their individual hooks.

Ryo wasn't going to say a one word that would upset Dee more than he already was, he wasn't going to insist it was all some sort of trick and he damn sure wasn't going to say anything to the effect that the house was haunted. Dee was already visibly shaken and had been for most of the night. Dee wasn't afraid of anything he could lay his hands on and Ryo knew that, just as he knew that he himself had been more frightened than he had let on. When Dee wordlessly pulled him toward the master bedroom he let him, just like he let Dee pull him into the bed and press himself flush against him. Ellen could think what she wanted, whatever she thought she apparently wasn't particularly judgmental or bigoted, so Ryo wasn't going to worry about how it looked. Ryo was beginning to understand why people called her Tank, she was damn near unflappable it would seem. Some time later in the day when he Dee wasn't with him he wanted to talk to her alone, his gut told him she wasn't responsible for what happened but the responsible detective in him wanted to make sure. Right this second though Ryo just wanted to relax and enjoy the comfort of Dee's body next to his without having to worry about fighting off advances or worry about what Dee's intentions were.

Here in the quiet with the morning sun's rays spilling over Dee's dark hair and skin, his face relaxing into sleep, Ryo could admit to himself how nice it felt to have Dee in his arms and letting Ryo protect him from his nightmares. Ryo smiled to himself and once he was sure Dee really was asleep he took the liberty of running his fingers through his thick locks enjoying the feel of Dee's soft hair against the flesh of his hand. He loved the way their bodies fitted together and the sensation of Dee's legs tangled in his own. He drifted off to sleep with Dee's head in the crook of his shoulder and neck content in the moment.

Ellen checked in on them sometime around noon, both men were still asleep, a joint mass of long limbs splayed out across the bed in all sorts of angles. She decided to let them sleep on through the day. She had her doubts that Dee would be capable of sleeping through the night anyway after all the ruckus from the night before. They made a cute couple and she was sort of sorry that they had been dragged all the way out here just to have the daylights scared out of them but since it wasn't her doing she wasn't going to let it bother her much. Mr. Desmont had never spent a night at the house, had never actually been inside it, so he didn't really understand the scope of the problem. He had bought the house site unseen from a realtor he knew looking to unload it cheap when the housing market crashed. He had hired her through a mutual acquaintance, she had met him just long enough to get the keys from him and his instructions, everything else was handled over the phone. Wasn't a bad job for what amounted to $8.50 an hour, considering it gave her a place to live rent and utility free but like all jobs it came with its own problems. Namely the disturbances. She didn't have to heart to tell the two young men that the noises were the least of the problems. Ryo wouldn't have believed her anyway and it would have just made Dee even more paranoid.

Ellen closed the door softly on the two men and took herself to the other bathroom for a nice long soak in the tub, the novel she was reading tucked under her arm. No sense worrying about things you can't control after all.

Next Chapter: Ryo investigates determined to prove that the house isn't haunted. Dee does his best to help despite his fears. And Ellen leaves them on their own for awhile. What will happen to the two detectives when the night falls and there is no one around to hear or help them?


	3. Cotton Sheets and Whispering Pines

Dee was trying his hardest to ignore his overfull bladder, willing himself to slide back into sleep. It was unfair for his body to make such demands of him when he so comfortable. The ceiling fan overhead was making the perfect about of white noise, the room was cool from the combined efforts of the air conditioner and the fan, muted sunlight dappled over his and Ryo's body, it was just to much ask him to get up. Besides if he moved there was a good chance the movement would wake Ryo and he was sure his partner needed his sleep, preferably while still pressed up against Dee's side and his head on Dee's chest.

Eventually all good things come to an end and Dee was forced to surrender his post. He tried extracting himself with the greatest of care, daring to hope that Ryo would stay asleep and increasing the possibility that he could creep back into bed and next to Ryo's warm body. It seemed to be working, Ryo shifted in his sleep, settling into the spot Dee had just vacated, snuggling into the impression Dee's body had made and burying his head into Dee's pillow. Dee stood quietly by the bedside for a moment watching his partner resettle himself and then let himself quietly into the master bedroom's adjoined bathroom, grateful the door did not squeak and that the latch closed with the softest of clicks.

Ryo's eyes slid open the second he heard the bathroom door close. Ryo buried his face a little bit more into Dee's pillow and looked at the closed door with one eye. A lingering tiredness pulled behind his eyes and his limbs were still heavy. He wasn't ready to be awake yet, not ready to commit himself to movement and action. He had gotten out of bed a few hours earlier to relieve himself and to get some water. Trying to disentangle from Dee without waking him had turned into quite a struggle, Dee had stubbornly held on in his sleep and it was not the first time that Ryo was surprised at the strength the other man possessed. When he had managed to free himself from Dee's tight clasp Dee had made a sound somewhere between a sigh of loss and grunt of disappointment. Ryo smiled to himself and let his eyes close. Let Dee think he was still asleep if he wanted, in sleep he could meet Dee half way and not feel threatened, he could lay against him and marvel at how stupidly right it felt. He could enjoy the way Dee smelled and the way their bodies seemed to fit so well together. He could do all this and have a taste of being with Dee without being overwhelmed by what it meant and what Dee wanted from him.

The door to the bathroom opened just as quietly as it had been shut. Ryo listened to the soft padding of Dee crossing the carpet back to the bed. He kept his face turned into the pillow so as not to give himself away and end the quiet interlude. It hid his grin when he heard Dee whisper a happy 'Yes' to himself as his weight sunk back down into the bed. Ryo let his body hang limp and compliant, letting Dee manhandle him and pull his body close to his own, situating him more or less where he was before Dee had left. He felt Dee's full lips briefly on his forehead in a surprisingly chaste kiss and then Dee's hand carefully brushing errant strands of his hair from his face. Ryo felt a sensation similar to comfort but deeper and wider, he nuzzled into Dee's neck and embrace. He was rewarded with a gratified sigh from Dee. Not much later Dee's chest began to rise and fall in a pattern that was unmistakable as deep sleep, Ryo let himself drift into a lighter sleep where his mind could wander into pleasant daydreams and things that might be.

It was early afternoon before either of them was up and moving. A note taped to the coffee maker let them know that Ellen would be out for the day running some errands and picking up food supplies. She left a spare set of keys on the counter for them and her cell phone number on the note with a request to call her if they needed anything or wanted anything in particular from the grocery store. After a quick call to let her know they were going to look around the house and grounds if she didn't have any objections and to ask her if she minded bringing Dee another pack of smokes the two men found themselves sitting companionably over cups of coffee.

"Last night was something else. I don't think that was what I was expecting when Chief said 'disturbances'. What the hell Ryo, that wasn't a disturbance it was an all out war." Dee said, his fingers twirling his lighter and occasionally tapping it on the kitchen table. It was a mixed sign of both nervousness and impatience. He didn't like things he couldn't explain, it was that simple. Things should fall into definable categories and he should be able to solve them with either his mind, his hands or his gun. It didn't help that he didn't want Ryo to laugh at him or give him that look again, the one that said he wasn't sure Dee was quite bright.

Ryo eyed him over the rim of his coffee cup taking a long slow slip. It wouldn't do to make light of last night or be dismissive of explanations he found to be ridiculous. He was remembering a conversation he had with the Chief about Dee back when they were first partnered. Rose had "accidentally" sent Ryo an email with a lot of Dee's private information in it. He had never told Dee, didn't know how he was suppose to broach that subject, he had, however, told the Chief, certain that he shouldn't keep Rose's antics to himself. Besides he was embarrassed for Dee and the callous way his privacy had been ripped away. Some of the information had been surprising. Dee was dyslexic for one and had difficulties with reading and comprehension. Other information highlighted his shooting range scores, Ryo already knew them but he couldn't stand that Rose thought he was showing Dee up. Dee's score were actually very good, Ryo's were better but that was to be expected he was a sniper for god sake. Chief had, for a change, let Ryo talk all he wanted, expressing all his resentment over Rose's treatment of Dee and his own frustration with Dee so easily taking Rose's bait most of the time and now this breach of Dee's privacy. Afterwards the Chief had opened up about Dee's past with the unit and why Ryo shouldn't worry to much about Dee, that he could take care of himself. Dee was well respected amongst the other detectives and officers for a reason, he was a damn good detective, sharp on his feet and able to recall events with a keen precision, see patterns where others failed, and rightly confident in his skills.

It had been a major insight into Dee for Ryo, Rose having wound up doing the exact opposite of his intentions. Ryo had a new found respect for Dee, for him having found a way to overcome anything holding him back. Ryo had found himself already expecting it from Dee anyways. It's just the way Dee was and for that Ryo was grateful. Grateful to be partnered with someone who had enough street smarts for the both of them, something Ryo originally had been somewhat lacking in, grateful to partnered with someone who thought outside the lines and did it with enough confidence that if Dee told Ryo to zig to the right when procedure said to zag to the left then that was exactly what Ryo did and finding himself grateful that Dee had kept them both alive for another day. But it also showed Ryo Dee's vulnerabilities, his famous disregard for paperwork coming into a whole new light among other things. Since that day Ryo had quietly taken on more of their paperwork then was his share, showing Dee ways to short cut some of it without saying why, often making an offhand joke that if he didn't Dee would have them trapped at the office all day. Sometimes he would find Dee's eyes intently on him during those days but he kept his head down and away from Dee's searching gaze.

The tapping of his lighter was a dead give away that Dee was uncomfortable with what he thought and what Ryo was going to make of it. Ryo set the coffee cup down carefully on the table before answering.

"It certainly was loud and nerve wracking. Let's hope that tonight is much more quiet. I think we should treat this like any other investigation. I'll start outside, I want to look around the building and see if I find any sign of an intruder or anything attached to or running to the building. I'd appreciate it if you'd go through the house while Ellen is gone. See if a more thorough search turns up anything, make sure you check the vents and the attic." A scowl twisted Dee's face up. Ryo knew he wouldn't like what he had proposed but if he had offered Dee the outside to check Dee would have felt that he was being babied. Ryo had picked the lesser of two evils.

"The attic huh?" Dee scuffed his feet on the floor kicking his long legs out. "Fine, I'll climb up into the dusty and probably creepy, old attic while you go outside." Ryo smiled a hint of mischief coming into his eyes and tilting the corners of his mouth.

"It could be worse Dee, you could have to search the creepy, old attic and a damp, spooky basement too. And we all know that the basement is where all the bad things hide, other than under the beds and waiting in closets to jump out and get you." Ryo was graced with Dee's middle finger as a response.

"Smart ass, I knew you thought I was a big baby last night. All right, let's get this over with while it's still daylight." Dee pushed himself up from the table and went out the kitchen. Ryo got up and rinsed out their mugs setting them to drain for future use. He could hear Dee moving about in what was suppose to be his room. When he came back he had a mag light for each of them. Ryo took the one offered to him and let himself out the backdoor and into the yard. Dee would be fine, there was no such thing as ghosts and even if there were, they couldn't hurt you. Once he found out what was really going on Dee would feel much better and be none the worse for it.

Outside a light, warm wind blew doing very little to ease the humid heat Ryo found himself wrapped in. He noticed again that the grass wasn't as lush as he thought it should be, entire patches had no grass at all instead being sandy patches, other places overgrown azalea bushes had all but taken over and unlike the bare areas you could smell rich damp earth when you got close to one. At first Ryo thought they might be a good place for an intruder to hide but closer inspection proved them to be full of something that Ellen had referred to as wait a minute vines. After having found several of the tendrils clinging stubbornly to him, thorns stuck to his clothing and grazing his skin, he thought the name was apt and that no one in their right mind would try to hide in them.

A search in a small shed out at the edge of yard was a complete bust, nothing in there but a broken shovel handle and a lawnmower that looked like it had quit running years ago. The layers of dust and cobwebs so thick that his feet left visible prints in the piece of plywood serving as a floor. Clearly no one had been in there for ages. Back outside he continued his sweep of the yard, he found nothing untoward around the base of the house, even braving the overgrown azaleas and more thorny vines in the front of the house to make sure no one had gotten in through the windows. Power line didn't look tampered with, phone line looked fine too, all in all the yard was completely devoid of anything useful to explain what was going on.

Looking out towards the back of yard Ryo came to a stand still and just listened. He wasn't particularly paying attention to anything. Just listening to the whispering sound pines needles made when they brushed against one another and the occasional creak of a heavy branch bending to the wind. He wanted to do a sweep of the immediate woods surrounding the house but didn't want to venture out and get himself lost in the woods, or worse yet come along a rattlesnake the wrong way without his gun or Dee having his back. He didn't hate snakes but he had a firm conviction that they should stay away from him and he would be happy to reciprocate. Just then something flickered between the tree trunks, a slight movement, a patch of something darker that hesitated between the trees before disappearing from view. Ryo frowned and trained his eye sight on the area. Nothing stirred. He watched, his eyes and ears straining, but the woods remained stubbornly still and quiet. He was ready to dismiss it as his imagination. All those hi-jinks last night still had him a little more on edge than he cared to admit. When nothing else was forthcoming he wrote it off as probably a bird or an animal.

He had turned to go back towards the house when he heard what sounded like his name being whispered. Ryo whipped back around quickly, scanning the area again, but still nothing was there and yet, if he held himself still he could still hear it, his name being whispered over and over again faintly. It seemed to be coming from the woods itself, first from one area and then another. The hairs on the back of neck stood on end and his skin prickled. It was so low, he could be wrong, it could just be the noise from the trees and his mind was playing tricks on him. He was listening so intently that when Dee did shout his name he jumped startled.

"Whaaa??" He tried to spit out what but his tongue tied up on the word. Dee was making long strides towards him.

"Sorry man, didn't mean to scare you. I was checking to see if you are done out here." Dee said but Ryo could tell something was a little off in his voice.

"You're done already Dee? The whole house?" Ryo asked, suspicious. Dee put his right hand on the back of his head, a dead give away that he was either lying or about to make an excuse.

"Well, um, not quite? Almost? I thought you might be getting lonely out here all by yourself." Dee managed to get out, fumbling over the words.

"Almost Dee? How much is 'almost'?" Ryo questioned, arms crossing over his chest. Dee swallowed.

"Um, most?" Dee said hopefully.

"Mmmmhmmm." Ryo hummed. He watched Dee light a cigarette and noticed his hands were shaking, not hard, but they weren't steady either. He looked his partner over carefully. Dee's lips were thin around the cigarette and he held his body tightly. He animated stress and shaken nerves. Something must have spooked him and he didn't want to be alone. Ryo found his own arms relaxing and reached out for him. He put a reassuring arm around Dee and pulled him closer.

"What's wrong?" He asked quietly but Dee just shook his head and kept pulling on his cigarette like the nicotine would give him strength. Ryo chewed on his lower lip, his own giveaway habit, while he tried to think around the situation. "You want to go back in the house Dee and sit down? I'm ready for a break anyways and maybe another cup of coffee."

Dee's eyes had widened slightly at the prospect of going back in the house but he covered it nearly immediately. He looked like he was going to say no for a second but when he realized Ryo was going back in with him he gave in. He flicked his nearly finished cigarette to the ground and stomped out the ember.

"Yeah, okay. I could use a cup of coffee myself." Dee let himself be pulled back into the house and into the kitchen. Ryo got him to sit back down and went about getting them their mugs of coffee.

"So, I didn't find anything outside, any luck inside?" Ryo asked as he handed a mug to Dee and settled down in the adjacent seat. Dee fidgeted with the cup, avoiding eye contact.

"Not anything useful. The attic is little more than a crawl space, no floor just the beams and insulation. I didn't find anything out of the ordinary." Dee went from playing with the cup to picking it up and taking a sip.

"Okay. So we're still at square one then." Ryo said watching Dee, waiting for him to tell him whatever was bothering him. It was one of those games of I know you know I know. Dee knew Ryo was looking at him, his gaze a gentle but unrelenting pressure on Dee to come clean. Ryo knew he would, Dee couldn't keep anything from him for long anyway. Dee finally sighed and put his cup down.

"Are you just going to keep looking at me that way?" He asked his bottom lip sticking out the tiniest bit.

"Yes, until you tell me what's wrong." Ryo stated calmly. Dee made a face. Ryo just waited.

"It's no big deal." Dee tried. Ryo arched an eyebrow.

"Oh good, if it's no big deal you won't mind telling me." Ryo jabbed and went back to waiting. Dee shifted in his seat and looked miserable.

"You'll laugh at me." Dee said, cracking under Ryo's stare.

"No I won't." He promised. Dee snorted.

"Yes you will." Ryo sighed inwardly. This could go on until the middle night if he let it.

"No, I will not. I promise. Spit it out." Ryo was using the tone he used with Bikky when all else failed. It was his 'I will brook no arguments' voice. Fortunately Bikky and Dee were enough alike that he knew it worked on Dee as well. Dee lit another cigarette his agitation growing.

"The house doesn't like me." Dee said. Ryo gestured for him to continue. Dee took another drag first. "I was coming down from the attic nearly on the bottom rung of the ladder when something yanked me backwards and I fell. Hit my back on that table in the hallway and then went down hard on my butt. I got up as fast as I could and that's when I heard it." Ryo waited but Dee didn't say anymore.

"Heard what Dee?" This time he voice was a little kinder.

"The voice. This big booming voice that told me to get out. It was so loud, I was sure you heard it outside. It said it a second time so I did what it said and got the hell out." Dee finished. He stared into his cup instead of looking at Ryo. Didn't want to see if Ryo was looking at him with disdain or disbelief.

Ryo stood up and crossed over to Dee. "Let me see your back, see if you're hurt." Dee bent forward so Ryo could push his shirt up and look at his back. What Ryo saw was a back skinned up, the first few layers of skin scraped off, probably from the sharp ledge of the table. Bruises were forming around and under the irritated skin. A deeper bruise was developing right above Dee's waist band and continuing under it. He hadn't fallen precisely on his butt but had landed rather on his lower back. Ryo frowned to himself.

"Dee do want to get this looked at, make sure nothing is seriously damaged?" He asked quietly. It didn't look serious but back injuries were nothing to take lightly. Dee shook his head no and pulled his shirt back into place. "All right but if anything changes, let me know, all right? Don't be stubborn about it and think you've got to tough guy it with me. I know that has to hurt. You are going to take some ibuprofen and then lay down on the couch so I can clean up that wound. It's not deep but you don't want anything getting infected. Then I'm going to find something to make an icepack out of and your going to stay put for a bit with it on."

Ryo's voice again brooked no argument. He didn't expect Dee to give him one anyway but just in case before Dee could say anything else Ryo bent forward and kissed him on top of his head and caressed the side of his face. "All right?"

"All right."

* * *

Next Chapter: Continuation of this chapter, it was getting a little long and I wanted to get at least part of it posted. Up next, it's getting dark outside and Ellen's still not home. Ryo begins to doubt himself and Dee finds himself in a most unpleasant predicament.


	4. Breathe In, Breathe Out

Ryo had gotten Dee out of his shirt and into a pair of his sweatpants with a minimum amount of fussing and swearing on both their parts. Dee was turning even more interesting shades of blue, the bruises darkening where he had made contact with the table and then the floor. He hurt too much to even crack a joke about Ryo pulling his pants off of him by his ankles while he leaned on him for support. Ryo's head was in all the right places for all sorts of filthy comments but Dee found himself hissing in pain, honestly needing Ryo's strong shoulders to keep him up right while Ryo freed first one leg and then another. After the ordeal of having the jeans peeled off him he had to patiently wait while Ryo treated his sweatpants like a pair socks bunching them up so that Dee could stick one foot in and then the other through the openings. He couldn't even enjoy the sensation of Ryo's hands on him as pulled the sweats up his thighs and hips, settling the elastic waistband at his waist because it just hurt to damn much.

Dee's upper lip and forehead had tiny beads of perspiration on them by the time Ryo was done, his face pale beneath his perpetual tan. His lower back had began to throb considerably, his injuries hurting much worse as time went on then right after the initial impact. He could see his shirt, discarded over the back of a chair, and the multiple flecks of blood all over it where his back was bleeding. He was more than happy to let Ryo take charge of him and help him down onto the couch. He gratefully accepted the offered pills and glass of water Ryo had fetched for him. After he had thrown them back Ryo eased him down to lay flat on his stomach, a throw pillow under his head. Ryo murmured to him to just lay still and he'd be right back with a wash cloth and get him cleaned up. Dee just let his eyes slip closed and wondered if maybe he should let Ryo find him a doctor. It was quickly becoming apparent that adrenaline had kept him from noticing just how bad he was hurt. Now that the moment had passed pain began to set in in earnest. The skin of his back felt like it was peppered with fire and while right after falling he had been moving fine, if painfully, stiffness was now setting in wrapping around his lower back and radiating down his legs.

He could hear Ryo on the phone in the kitchen no doubt with Tank by what he could make out of the one sided conversation, asking if she had this, could she pick up that. The conversation became muffled under the sound of running water so Dee concentrated on that sound instead, trying to distract himself from the pain. It seemed to take forever before he heard the water shut off and could hear Ryo's footsteps returning to his side. Ryo sat down on the couch by his legs sitting carefully on the edge. Dee tried to turn his head to look at him but realized his mistake as soon as his back muscles shifted. Dee gave it up with a groan and dropped his head back on the pillow.

"Just let me take care of you, okay?" Ryo asked quietly. Dee could hear him ringing out a wash cloth and gave an audible sigh of relief as Ryo began cleaning his back with the warm cloth. His hands were gentle and kind carefully sweeping against the irritated skin. It was the sort of thing Dee knew him and Ryo would always be there to do for the each other. No matter how confused Ryo seemed to be about his feelings or whether he was attracted to Dee or not, Dee knew in his heart that Ryo would always take care of him and he would always do the same for him. It was one of the reasons why he kept holding on waiting for Ryo to catch up to him and realize that they loved each other. He relaxed under Ryo's hands and care. He could feel himself starting to drift to sleep but still grunted a little when the ministrations stopped and he felt Ryo stand up. Soon after he felt something cool and heavy laid across the lower portion of his back and then Ryo's lips pressed to the side of his temple. All he could think of as he slid even further into sleep was what a damn shame it was that he couldn't take better advantage of the situation, here Ryo was kissing him and he wasn't up to doing anything about it. He tried to say something but it came out as a yawn, Ryo leaned closer when he tried again, and managed to mumble out a tired "I love you." He couldn't be sure but his brain wanted to believe that he heard Ryo whisper back that he loved him too and he was more than certain that he felt Ryo's long fingers carding through his hair right before he nodded off completely.

Ryo watched him for a moment, watched him sleeping, listening to the deepness of his breathing, Dee pulling air in and expelling it slowly. He felt a little guilty about giving Dee the generic ibuprofen pills he had found. He knew they were knock off's of Advil PM but the only other thing Ellen had was a prescription pain killer and some aspirin. He was one of the few people who knew that Dee didn't tolerate aspirin well and he wasn't about to give him someone else's narcotic medication. He mollified himself with the thought that as long as Dee was asleep he wouldn't be in any pain and he wouldn't be itching to move around when he needed to be laying down while the compress did its work. Ellen had told him where to find the compresses, her medication being for her own back she kept a few of them around, some in the freezer and a few more in the cupboard below the microwave. Ryo had looked at them last night and not known what they were but she had explained over the phone that they were homemade cloth bags of deer corn and that they could both be frozen or put in the microwave to warm them up. He had to admit when he pulled one of the frozen ones out that it felt like a really heavy bag of frozen peas, something he and Dee had both used in the past to put on the various minor injuries their job gave them, something he took as a good sign of their ability to work. He had one from the cupboard on the counter ready to throw in the microwave and switch out for the cold one in twenty minutes. With nothing to do but watch over Dee for the time being Ryo took the opportunity to pull out the crossword puzzle he had been working on while on the plane and set about trying to finish it.

Time went by peacefully for a still sleeping Dee. He would murmur and shift in his sleep when Ryo would check on him but otherwise he slumbered on through the late afternoon and well into the evening hours. He missed Tank returning and leaving again after Ryo helped her bring in her shopping bags and putting things away. She had a young woman with her who bore enough of a resemblance to her that Ryo wasn't surprised when she introduced as her daughter. Ellen had stayed just long enough to make sure Dee was okay and that Ryo didn't need anything else before disappearing back into the night, going with her daughter to visit for the next few days while they were investigating.

Ryo filled the time after she left looking over the house himself, climbing into the attic and back out again after seeing it was just as Dee said. He had to admit he was more than just a bit perplexed on what could have made all the noise last night. Each room turned up nothing more interesting than the amount of dust that can collect underneath and behind seldom moved furniture. The windows proved to have swollen over time and either would not open at all or he could only crack them open an inch or so and not without considerable effort and quite a bit of noise. The doors while not exactly plumb were not so out of whack that they would be able to voluntarily swing open or closed by themselves. It was really quite aggravating. He certainly didn't want to have to call his Chief and report that two of New York's finest couldn't find out what was making a little noise in an isolated house in the middle of nowhere. After awhile he found himself drifting about aimlessly and decided to call it a night reasoning that by the morning Dee would either be feeling better or admit that he needed to go see a doctor.

He went about the house checking all the locks and doors one last time and turning off any lights that were still on. He left the table lamp beside Dee on so if he woke up it would not be to total darkness, covering him with a clean sheet from the linen closet. Assured that Dee was as comfortable as he could make him he went into the master bedroom, Ellen having assured him that it was all right for them to use it while she was away, and readied himself for bed. Sleep eluded him for quite a while as he sat up in bed working his crossword puzzle, listening to the different sounds coming from the house and from outside. It was so different from home and while not on edge he just couldn't seem to get comfortable and doze off. He eventually decided to put away the puzzle and turn off the light plunging the room into darkness. It seemed like time was moving ever slower ticking away quietly while he just laid there staring off into space. It crossed his mind to wake Dee knowing that he would be ecstatic to lay in bed with him again but he talked himself out of it. It would be dishonest to lead Dee on like that, giving him hope that something would happen between the two of them, but he couldn't shake the thought of how much more comfortable he would feel if he had Dee's warm body next to his own. Ryo sighed and punched up his pillow and closed his eyes. It was well past midnight before he finally fell into a restless sleep.

In the living room Dee slept on, heavy and deep, unused to medication with an antihistamine in it. He didn't start to come to until evening passed into night and night started to push into early morning. He woke with a groggy head and the confusion of sleeping somewhere unfamiliar. His eyes fluttered open trying to take in the dimly lit room, trying to remember where he was and what had woken him. His eyes had begun to droop closed heading back into sleep when he felt someone's breathe, cold as ice, on the side of his face and neck. Dee's eyes flew open at the strange and unwelcome sensation. He lay there completely frozen, fear hard and cold itself in his heart and the pit of his stomach. He could feel a hand moving up his leg and to his side, the cold breath returned stirring the dark strands of bangs and chilling his forehead. His heart went from feeling seized up to beating hard and erratic. He tried to sit up but the hand was now splayed out in the center of his back and pushing down hard. His limbs refused to move and panic set in as the pressure bore down on him. He struggled to call out, to scream, to do anything at all, but he was held in a terrible thrall of stillness, his body refusing to answer to his commands. Another hand joined the first sliding up his left shoulder and gliding across his neck to his chin, thin bony fingers bit in cruelly and twisted his face up the bones in his neck popping at the force. Dee could see nothing but the living room, his eyes telling him not to believe what his body was feeling, his ears hearing nothing but the pounding of his own blood. He had not been this terrified since he was a little boy at the orphanage clinging to Mother in fright after having seen a man in the middle of his room at night. Mother had managed to calm him and convince him it was just his eyes playing tricks on him, just reflection and shadow.

Dee did the only thing he could think of, he slammed his eyes shut and wished it away, pulling up bits of remembered prayers and making up a few of his own. He kept trying to call out to Ryo his lip numbly moving over and over again with hardly any sound coming out at all. He would never know if Ryo heard him in his sleep or if his partner woke up instinctively knowing that something was dreadfully wrong.

"Dee, you okay?" Ryo asked from the door way of the bedroom. His voice tired but alert. Dee could have cried he was so relieved. The coldness against his skin faded to nothing, the pressure on his back disappearing with it, as Ryo came to him, bending over Dee and his own warm hand ghosting over where the other hand had been.

"Your skin is so cold. Actually this whole area is pretty chilly." Ryo frowned wondering if the air conditioner vent was blowing directly on Dee. He gently pulled Dee up into a sitting position and kneeled in front of him. Dee's eyes were staring back at him wild and afraid. "Do you want to talk about it? Did you have a nightmare Dee?" Maybe he shouldn't have given Dee those pills after all, maybe he was having a bad reaction to them.

Dee's mouth opened and closed a few times before anything came out and when he did finally get his brain and his mouth on the same page his voice came out timid and hoarse.

"Something was in here with me, I couldn't move and it was touching me, holding me down on the couch. I could feel it breathing on me." He looked at Ryo his eyes practically pleading with Ryo to believe him. Ryo, of course, believed no such thing, but he did believe Dee thought it had happened. He pulled Dee into a hug being careful of his back. No doubt Dee had had a particularly vivid nightmare and had experienced sleep paralysis. Ryo had read about that in a magazine and how terrifying it could be to the person experiencing it.

Getting up from his knees he pulled Dee up with him and led him by his hand into the bedroom. Dee would have to sleep with him for the rest of the night, that's all there was too it, obviously things were getting to Dee and his mind was playing tricks on him. After Dee had settled into the bed Ryo brought him some water from the bathroom in one of those tiny little Dixie cups and made sure he drank it. He climbed into bed beside him and carefully snuggled up against Dee's back trying to judge if it was hurting him or not. Dee just burrowed into the hold apparently ignoring any pain in favor of Ryo spooning him. Ryo was nearly back asleep when Dee started talking.

"It happened Ryo. I didn't make it up." Dee said softly. Ryo knew Dee thought it happened and that was all that mattered to him. He wasn't going to make an argument over it if he didn't have to.

"I know you didn't make it up. You're not the sort to do something like that. It's probably my fault anyways, the pills I gave you earlier had something in them to help you sleep, you might have had a reaction of some sort. Try to go back to sleep Dee, we can talk more about in the morning." He told him quietly, not willing to fully agree with him but hoping it would come close enough to appease Dee. Dee snorted, showing just what he thought of that, but didn't say anything else, choosing instead to pull Ryo's arm more tightly around him. Ryo smiled to himself and drifted back to sleep.


	5. Talking In Your Sleep

Author Note: Thank you for reading. I apologize for the lateness in updating, the holidays were busy.

Disclaimer: FAKE does not belong to me, no profit made.

Dee woke first having slept longer, he didn't bother waking Ryo. He didn't want to move, these times with Ryo meant so much more to him than he could get Ryo to understand. He wanted desperately to understand Ryo completely. He wanted even more for Ryo to understand Ryo. By all laws of normalcy men didn't let other men sleep with them the way Ryo did with him. Sure there were occasions and times where that could be bent with grudging understanding, foxholes in war, snowed in at base camp in Tibet, and other odd ticks of strangeness, maybe brothers sleeping on the pull out bed at their parents home during the annual holiday visit.

This? This was maddening and cherished all at the same time. It drove his body crazy but made his heart feel warm and safe. Ryo guarded his entire self, mind, body and soul, Dee understood that all to well. Dee guarded his heart as zealously as Ryo did probably even more. These times of closeness meant so much to his fearful heart that he could and did ruthlessly squash down his body's more sexualized reaction. No way would he say anything to Ryo that would make him worried about letting Dee near him like this. He could wait and should he lose in the end at least he would have the memories of now, when they felt like a long married couple wrapped comfortably around each other.

And so he laid there quietly. Ryo had shifted in his sleep rolling to his other side. Dee being awake for the shift had carefully rolled with him, ignoring his back's protest and eased himself up against Ryo the front of his thighs tucked up against the back of Ryo's. His mind thought back over the past few days. They were absolutely at a stand still but Ryo was not going to accept the answer.

The damn place was haunted. There was to stop than he needed to hire an entirely different set of investigators. Dee grinned at the thought of The Ghost Hunter's taping an episode at the house, if they got half the greeting that they had it would be one hell of an episode. He could just see them checking the plumbing and talking to the camera about how some times pipes bang and people mistake it for a ghostly activity. Tango walking around with Steve, the tech guy, asking the ghost to make himself known and doing an EP Session. And then all those sounds of the doors and cupboards opening and closing at the same time. They would stare at each other in the green light and say "Did you hear that?" and "Did we get it on recording?"

The smile left when he thought of Grant, and it would be Grant, he was sure of it, having the 'personal experience' of a deathly cold hand pushing him down and not letting him up. Dee sighed deeply. Ryo would explain it away, he wouldn't call Dee a liar, he would just think he was confused and mistaking one thing for another thing. Dee wasn't confused but it wouldn't matter because unless it happened to Ryo himself it was just to implausible for Ryo. Even if it did Dee would be damned if didn't believe Ryo would find some perfectly ridiculous way to explain it way rather than admit that it was a paranormal experience.

Dee curled his arm tighter around Ryo's waist and buried his nose in the hair at the back of Ryo's neck. Take it for what it was worth. That is what he would do. He would agree to whatever Ryo decided to report back to their Chief and his friend and live each day he had here with him for what it was, time with Ryo that was not consumed by cases, joint parenting, and other distractions. He'd bottle down the fear he felt, hide it and deny it, the creed of the vast majority of men the world wide. He'd take every scare and freaky experience in trade for this time with his Ryo. His. Ryo just didn't grasp it yet that was all. And when he did, when he finally figured it all out for himself, he would realize that it went both ways and that he had been Ryo's for so very, very long.

Ryo slept on. Dee kept watch. Ryo would never tell Dee that he had a tendency towards snoring, even though Dee knew this because he woke himself up doing it, and Dee would never tell Ryo that he talked in his sleep. Soft mumbles that could mean almost anything, odd dislocated phrases that had no proper beginning or end and bits and pieces of secrets. Ryo knew Dee snored only if his head was twisted the wrong way, he knew how to move it and not wake him letting them both go back to sleep. Dee knew to keep his mouth shut and not tell Ryo that he called for Dee in his sleep, told him he loved him in his sleep, or that he knew Ryo still had nightmares about his parents. It was an agreement neither knew the other made but it served them both well. So when Ryo pushed back into Dee's hold and mumbled "Love you Dee." Dee just quietly whispered back, love you too and continued to keep watch.

* * *

Ryo woke up with his head tucked up under Dee's chin, his nosed pressed into his throat, and his head resting in the crook of Dee's arm and shoulder. Dee's other arm was around his waist, giving patient strokes to his back, and their legs were a tangled mess, Dee's leg over his, his other leg over Dee's, and Dee's other leg stretched long across his, hooking around Ryo's ankle with his foot. It was Ryo's arm that awoke him, the right one was flung out over Dee's body resting at his hip, but the left one was trapped under him and Dee and had gone to sleep.

It was a weird mix of entirely comfortable and distinctly unpleasant. Ryo tugged on the arm to free it and Dee rolled just a little bit to help him out, releasing him when Ryo struggled to sit up, cradling the arm against him.

"What's wrong?" Dee asked sitting up himself.

"Arm went to sleep. Hope I didn't wake you up." Ryo replied starting to rub the arm with his right hand to try to ease up the pins and needles feeling. Dee gently tugged on his wrist pulling the offending limb to him. Dee's long fingers worked there way up, warm and firm, massaging and stroking as he went helping the blood to start circulating properly again. Ryo smiled at him in gratitude. Not for the last time Ryo would wonder why the human body didn't come with a convenient way to deal with extra arm syndrome in couples. Surely it couldn't have been that hard to come up with.

"What'cha thinking you've got that look on your face?" Dee asked his fingers moving from right below his elbow to right above it.

"That nature should have made it so that sleeping with someone didn't involve waking up to your arm full of needles and electricity." Ryo told him ruefully.

"Oh but it did! That's what the person you are sleeping with is for, it is their God given job to rub, massage, and caress such things away." Dee said in mock solemnity. Ryo laughed.

"Is that so? So what is the other person suppose to do in exchange for such kindness." He asked, a playful crinkle in the way he held his eyes. Dee looked into them and had to make a quick decision whether to push the moment forward or let it fall back comfortably. The tip of Dee's tongue flicked out to moisten his bottom lip. It was so hard to read what Ryo really wanted to happen in these situations. Do you push when you want to pull or not?

Dee settled for smiling and let go of Ryo's arm. "I do believe the correct response is the other person is therefore responsible for getting coffee going." Ryo's smile widened.

"Why I do believe I can oblige. You want it in here or the kitchen? I haven't asked yet so I don't know how your back is. You seem to be moving all right." Ryo asked, giving Dee a critical once over. Dee gave a characteristic shrug. His back hurt but it wasn't unbearable. He'd already been up once to smoke a cigarette. He wouldn't want to be running down some perp in the alleys of New York but otherwise was all right.

"I guess I'm all right. Just a little sore and stiff is all." He said scratching at his chin and the stumble on it. "Might go shave and shower while you get coffee going, if that's all right." He missed Ryo's eyes fixing on his chin where his fingers were scratching, dark eyes intent on the way the skin pulled sharp over the bone.

Ryo scampered off the bed and made for the door. "No problem Dee." And fled.

Dee's eyes were on him then, narrowing and thoughtful. "Well, well, well, wasn't that most interesting." He whispered into the air before meandering off into the bathroom.

Safe in the kitchen Ryo wandered not for the last time why Dee could have such an effect on him. And not for the last time he pushed it away using the daily motions of going through life to still the noise in his head and ignore the tightening in his chest. You do things in order and absorb yourself in them, lose yourself to the minute and live in that exact moment. Dee thought that mediation was all about sitting lotus (or Indian style as Dee said) and going "OM" over and over again. One day Ryo would explain aum to him. Just like one day he would tell him that mediation can take many, many forms. Doing the dishes can be mediation if it is done in the right frame of mind and so can be making coffee and breakfast. Especially if it stilled a too hard beating heart and kept Ryo's thoughts from going to places that made him nervous.

Coffee mugs out and ready, pot rinsed out, burner cleaned, previous coffee grounds and filter thrown away, new filter in holder, this amount of coffee in the filter, filter shut, water in the pot, pot poured into the water receptacle, switch turned on. Ryo lived each bit fully thinking only of each step and the sensation each one gave him. What he wouldn't give for a sink fully of dirty dishes just right then, warm soapy water and plate after plate to be scrubbed clean, the plates becoming clean and useable under his expert hands. It would take his mind into a nice quiet place of contemplation that did not involve contemplating just how handsome and masculine Dee looked with a head full of bedhead and a day and nights worth of dark stubble. Damn the man anyways for being so hard to ignore. And then Ryo hurriedly took it back not wanting any type of the damning of any sort when it came to Dee.

Ryo gave up meditating him a way and instead followed the path of letting it wash over him, neither resisting or compelling it, it was easier and still part of the path he only seemly regularly followed when it came to his spirituality. He let his feelings and thoughts roam freely. That so many of them involved Dee, Bikky or Carol was only natural he reasoned, they were the people he cared for the most. The ones involving Dee that were colored warmly filled him deeply and he really didn't want to deny them anyways.

He was lost in these thoughts as he went about pulling together the things to make breakfast for him and Dee. Bacon from the meat drawer and egg carton set on the counter, and a loaf of bread found, Ryo put a clean frying pan he found in the drawer at the bottom of the stove on to warm up. He was in the process of testing the toaster to see if the ancient beast still worked when he heard the first pop.

Ryo looked up and around, nothing immediately seemed out of order. He spared the frying pan on the stove a glance but nothing amiss there either, his eyes traveled across the counter coming to rest on the open carton of eggs. He didn't remember opening it but that was such a minor thing that it was easy enough to brush off, he noticed one of the eggs was missing. Ellen must not have checked the carton before buying it. He made a mental note to check the rest of the eggs for cracks before using them and went back to the toaster, satisfied to see the wires inside were glowing red and hot. Toast would be had! For Ryo this was a small triumph, Dee loved food and had a passionate love of both meat and grease. The bacon and eggs were more for him than for Ryo, however, the toast was for both of them. Dee would use it to sop up the yolks of his eggs, over easy and definitely runny. For Ryo though it would make up the bulk of his breakfast, that and an apple cut into slices. Ryo wanted it nice and crisp with a smear of butter on each slice and nothing else, much less egg yolk. Honestly he didn't see how Dee could stomach all the heavy food he ate but if Dee's abdomen was any indication it certainly didn't hurt him any.

Pop. Ryo pushed the toaster back to its resting place and looked around again with a frown. What on earth was making that noise? He looked around again. His eyes came back to the eggs. There were now two missing from the cartoon. Ryo's frowned deepened. He stared at the carton. An egg from the center of the carton was shaking, trembling in its place. He watched it in rapt fascination as it rocked back and forth and then slowly lifted out of the carton into the then air wobbling in nothing but space. It held there suspended and improbable. Ryo couldn't have taken his eyes off of it if he wanted to watching it twist in the air.

Suddenly it launched across the room smacking into the far wall across from the stove and breaking on contact, egg white and yolk sliding down the wall. Ryo blinked a few times his mind not coming up with any convenient answers when another egg went whizzing across the room and into the wall. Pop, pop, pop, went another egg and another the busted shells coming to settle on the floor in a random, scattered mess.

Ryo didn't know what to do, he just stood stock still and watched it happen, eyes wide and shocked. Once all the eggs had met their demise the empty carton made a valiant attempt to reach the same wall but fell short fluttering down to land on the kitchen table. There was the sound of something slick being pulled across something smooth and Ryo turned his head back just in time to see the package of bacon be pulled off the counter, it sank down just a bit in the air but then seemed to heft itself back up and launch at the wall with enough force that it managed to stick, for just a moment, to the wall before sliding down. Ryo was still staring at it when Dee walked in and brought himself up short when he saw the mess. Dee turned surprised eyes to Ryo that suddenly grew frighteningly large, it was the only warning he got before he felt the air around him displace as the frying pan passed by his head in route to making quite a sizeable dent in the wall before clattering to the floor.

They just stared at each other both in shock, not saying anything at all. It was Dee who finally moved. He never said a word, he just went straight to the stove shutting it off and shutting off the coffee maker to. He came up to Ryo and pulled him by his arm, tugging him out of the kitchen. Dee pushed him into the main bedroom and shut the door behind.

"Get dressed Ryo. We're going out to eat this morning." Dee said carefully, trying very hard to sound calm. He helped him grab things from their bags, Dee very grateful that Ryo had had the foresight to drag them into the main bedroom last night and gently shoved him into the restroom shutting the door between them on Ryo's still surprised face.

It couldn't have taken Ryo more than five, ten minutes tops, to pull himself together. Unlike Dee he sometimes didn't need to shave for a few days before it was noticeable so it wasn't much to swipe a wet razor over what was there, splash some cool water on his face and stuff his legs into a clean pair of boxers and jeans. He was still pulling his shirt down when he threw open the bedroom door.

Wallets, keys and cellphones were shoved into pockets and they were heading out the door. They were nearly at the front door when they heard the unmistakable sound of a half full coffee pot crashing into the wall and shattering on the floor. Dee shut the door on what was most likely the sound of their coffee mugs following suit.

They were getting out of the house right damn now if Dee had to carry Ryo over his shoulder to do it. He wasn't giving Ryo anytime to think about it either practically bullying him into the passenger seat of the car and gunning the engine a tad more than necessary when he backed out of the driveway. He had his head turned and his eyes watching where he was going. It was Ryo, staring straight ahead at the house, who saw the curtains in the living room lift open and a grinning face, sans the body, staring back at him from the other side of the glass.


	6. Huddle House and Huddled Together

Sitting in a Huddle House booth Ryo watched Dee devour all of his breakfast and then start on the half of the breakfast that Ryo hadn't eaten. Apparently getting scared to death did nothing to diminish Dee's appetite. In fact, from what Ryo was seeing, it might even enhance it. Dee had even eaten the grits that came with his platter after watching how another customer ate his, a dash of salt and pepper and two or three of those little packets of butter and he was good to go muttering around a mouthful that these were great and they'd have to make them at home sometime.

Ryo just sipped his coffee and stayed quiet. His mind was in turmoil and the rational part of his brain was suffering great difficulty. It didn't fit. Nothing fit. He was even considering whether or not he had been tricked into appearing on one of those shows that Dee and Bikky liked to watch, the one called Scare Tactics coming to mind. Chewing on his lip he thought it might be possible and if that was the case it would be all the more humiliating if he let himself give into superstition and then have everyone laugh at him when the trick was exposed.

On the other hand, that frying pan had come awful close to nailing him in the head and the exploding glass and searing temperature of the coffee were extremely dangerous. It was maddening, the circles his mind was running, trying to find an acceptable out to what he just could not believe. He was frustrated and still a bit scared which was rapidly turning into anger.

Lost in his own thoughts he didn't notice Dee watching him on the sly. One of Dee's major gifts when it came to detective work, he had the knack of looking like he wasn't paying much attention when nothing could be further from the truth. Shoveling food in his mouth and slurping coffee the only person giving him much mind at all was a waitress who was giving him a bit to much attention, the sort that had less to do with a tip and more to do with flirting even if she knew he was out of her league and had been for some time. Ryo's dark eyes certainly weren't fixated on him for more than a moment at a time before drifting back off to stare outside the window. Dee licked his fork for good measure before returning it to the plate and picking up his coffee. Breakfast was over. He'd have to come back for dinner but not tonight because tonight he was having Krystals, which looked like White Castles to him and he had to find out if they tasted the same or not.

Dee bumped Ryo's knee with his own to get his attention. Ryo dark eyes settled on and then looked down at the now empty plates. "Are you done Dee?" He asked quiet and polite. Dee tossed back the rest of his coffee and grabbed the bill.

"Sure am. And I need a cigarette. And guess what? They don't allow smoking in restaurants in this part of the country. So why don't you finish off your coffee while I pay the bill and so we can get out of here. K?" Dee didn't wait for an answer, he didn't need to, Ryo was already standing up and tossing back the last of his coffee as well. It was one of those things that had developed over time with them, finishing up quickly to stay relatively in sync so they could continue working in sync. Dee expected it and Ryo didn't fail him.

When Ryo held out his hands for the keys Dee dropped them into his palm without a word and watched him as he went out to their rental car while he waited to pay. Dee had expected that too and had already decided to let him drive if he wanted. Dee intended to call Tank anyway to explain what happened and get feedback from her on what they should do, other than clean up that huge ass mess. Dee was not looking forward to it, not the mess or going back in the house. His resolution from earlier to let Ryo say whatever he wanted to their Chief was being sorely tested. He had his own warring emotions to contend with and he had about enough of this stupid house in the middle of God forsaken nowhere. Half his mind was on forcibly taking Ryo home, even if that meant he had to drive the entire way, the other half wanted to go back to that house and do…and do… that's where his mind petered out. He wanted to go back and shove something tangible up against a wall and explain to it in no uncertain terms that throwing things at his Ryo was absolutely not acceptable and then punctuate it with a few punches from his fist. Somehow he didn't think that would work in this situation. Dee had no idea what would work in this situation and that frustrated him most of all.

Dee paid the bill and walked out to his waiting partner, lighting a cigarette as he went, planning out the rest of the day. If nothing else they had to replace the food and the coffee maker which would require a shopping excursion. He knew Ryo was also going to offer to pay for the damages to the wall from where the frying pan had dented it, which was another bone of contention with him. Dee couldn't see how they could be held responsible for something they didn't do but Ryo was being quietly stubborn about it and would just pay for it behind Dee's back if he had to. Then there was the slight matter of prying out of Ryo whatever it was he thought he was hiding from Dee. Something had made all the blood leave Ryo's face back when they were leaving the house but Dee hadn't been quick enough turning around to see whatever it was that freaked Ryo out. No such thing as ghosts his ass. The owners didn't need a pair of detectives, they needed the freakin' Ghost Busters.

Ryo did not want Dee to smoke in the rental car, despite having been assured it was all right for him to do so and despite Dee having done so the entire drive in. Ryo could be maddening sometimes in his sense of right and wrong. Dee leaned up against the car while Ryo sat half in and half out, finishing up his cigarette and punching the numbers in to Tank's cellphone.

"Hello, hello Mr. Detective. What can I do for you today?" Tank's cheerful voice greeted him. Dee grinned around his cigarette.

"Well hello to you to Tank." He chirped right back at her. He liked her, she kinda reminded him of himself in a way. Sometimes you gotta take life by the balls and he was pretty sure she had them firmly in her hand.

"Listen, don't freak out or anything, but we had a problem at the house and I need to let you know what happened." He said, taking another drag of his dwindling cigarette. He heard an amused laugh come through the phone lines behind it was the unmistakable clink of glass and the sounds of someone moving.

"Well now, let me see, would that have anything to do with the poor decimated remains of an innocent box of eggs?" She asked, mirth coming through loud and clear. "I wouldn't worry about it Dee. My kid and I are here now cleaning up the mess. I would ask how you and your pretty faced partner are doing but it would seem I already have my answer."

Dee left out his breath slowly watching the smoke disperse. Ryo looked up at him with a questioning look on his face. "Tank's at the house." He told him before giving his attention back to the phone.

"We were going to clean that up when we got back from the store, we're going to replace the food and the coffee pot." He told her. She just laughed.

"Why? Did you throw it against the wall? If not, let the bossman pay for it, I've got an account for such things and it's not your fault that he's a pigheaded man who can't figure out something simple like this." She told him, her voice showing she wasn't the least bit concerned.

"Ryo wants to pay for the damages to wall you know." He blurted out ignoring the sharp jab to his hip that Ryo gave him and his hissed "Deeeeeeeeeeeee."

"Tell him I heard that and no he's not paying for the wall. No arguments. I promise I'll win." She told him, her voice humored but firm. Dee grinned again. Yeah, he'd bet she'd win too.

"So, uh, should we pick up the stuff since we're out?" He asked. Tank sighed loudly.

"Dee, this is a yes or no question. Have you ever been inside a Super Walmart?" She asked. "Well?" When he took to long to reply.

"Um,no." He had never been in a regular Wal-mart much less a super version. Had never even thought about it.

"Well then my fine friend, gather up your true love and bravely head in for replacements. Just call and let me know if you actually get them or not. I'll make sure you two get reimbursed. And I'm outta here, we're done and my youngin' is giving me the death glare." Tank wasn't kidding either, the phone went dead right after she finished speaking and before Dee could question her about that true love bit. Dee put his cellphone away, stamped out his cigarette and went around the car to get in on the passenger side.

"What did she say Dee?" Ryo asked his fingers on the keys to start the ignition.

"She said you're not allowed to pay for the wall and if we want to buy stuff to go to Wal-mart." Dee replied. And you're my true love and pretty but I'll keep that to myself for now he thought to himself stealing a glance at his partner's profile.

Three hours later they were back at the house with a new coffee maker, couple of bags of groceries and snacks, two new coffee cups, foam paper cups as backup, and one highly irate detective. Dee slammed the car door with enough force to make the car rock, curse words flying out of his mouth left and right. Ryo hadn't even attempted to stop him from smoking on the way home. Dee had been chain smoking and coming up with imaginative strings of foul language and violent threats the entire way home, which they got to entirely sooner than they should have do to Dee's aggravation manifesting itself as a very heavy and lead filled right foot.

Ryo had already sworn to himself that whatever had to be picked up from here on out it was going to be him and not Dee going to get it. It had started going wrong with two women blocking the entire end of the aisle with their shopping carts and refusing to move or even acknowledge that other people were trying to get through. Ryo had managed to catch one of their eyes and gave his best smile and asked politely if they could move over so he could pass by. They did, by an inch or two and without saying a word to him, making it seem by and large as though he was the problem and not them. Ryo could literally feel the hackles rising up on Dee. It was with a sinking sensation in his stomach that Ryo realized the type of jam they both preferred was on the shelf the women were still standing in front off, chattering away. Dee didn't bother asking them to move, he just reached over and plucked it out from right in between their heads. Both women were highly offended at his rudeness to which Dee had replied that if they didn't want someone to reach over them than they could move their damn selves somewhere else for their conversation and out of the way of other customers, which had led to the to ladies in question scurrying down the aisle but not before making a comment about rude yankees. It had gone down hill from there to the point that Ryo had made Dee go wait outside for him while he went through the check out line.

Dee was still in a snit, stomping right into the house behind Ryo and following him right into the kitchen. It wasn't until he sat down the bags in his arms that Dee's fire ran out, his eyes coming to rest again on the dent in the wall reminding him of just why they had had to go to Wal-mart in the first place. Troubled eyes came back to Ryo's with a lot of unanswered questions in their depths. Ryo chose to break eye contact and go about putting everything away even if he was doing it in a matter slightly more hurried than necessary. He wasn't going to admit it to Dee but he was nervous and on edge. He couldn't get the mornings events from his mind, they just kept replaying over and over again.

He didn't want to admit that maybe he had been wrong, maybe the place was haunted, maybe there were such things as ghosts. It wasn't a train of thought he wanted to go down. If ghosts were real than what else was real, it was a slippery slope for Ryo. Part of getting through his parents death had been dealing with a God that would let such things happen to people in the first place and that a loving God would have saved them, wouldn't have let their reputations be drug through the mud after their deaths, it wasn't hard for an eighteen year old Ryo to decide that there must not be such a god after all and he had buried away all the rest with that god. No angels, no demons, nothing beyond the grave and beyond the known, no more real than the tooth fairy. He didn't like having such certainties shaken so hard and so frequently.

But what he wasn't saying to Dee with his mouth he was saying with his body, with the tenseness in his back, the way he held his hands, the way his teeth were clenched but his lips were slightly open. Dee could read him easily, his favorite book, laid open and the writing clear and precise across the pages. And so Dee went about quietly putting his part of the groceries away, tucking away the new coffee maker on the counter and staying wisely out of Ryo's path. He didn't say anything as Ryo left the kitchen and went through the living room and into the main bedroom, listening as he heard the bathroom door click closed and knowing Ryo undoubtedly locked it for good measure.

Dee moved out into the living room and stood in the center of the room. He made himself quiet and still and tried to see the room for the first time. It wasn't just the age of the room that made it feel off it was the sense of being stuck in time, the sort of feeling, crushed and depressing, he would experience when he would go with Mother to visit shut ins. It was a terrible feeling, a feeling of life having not so much slipped away as wasted away, lives that had not lived fully and had sunk in on themselves. It was a nasty, feeling, musty and needy all at once.

He closed his eyes and tried to open his other senses, still keeping part of his attention trained on Ryo's closed door. He could hear it then, it wasn't loud but it was pervasive, a whispering sound of muddled words and muddled voices, far away and yet up against him. He shuddered but pushed himself to keep his eyes closed. He knew these sounds. They could be heard in the orphanage he grew up in late at night when everything else was quiet. He knew from experience that if he were to lay down, his ear pressed to his pillow and his eyes screwed tight, just as he had when he was a kid, the voices would get louder and closer but not any clearer.

When he opened his eyes the voices slid back into nothingness and he blinked to readjust his vision to the dim light. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ryo leaning up against the doorframe of the master bedroom, arms crossed over his chest watching him, he hadn't heard him come out after all. Dee twisted his head to look him fully in the eyes.

"Dee? You all right?" Ryo asked softly, gently.

"I don't know Ryo, are you?" Dee returned the question back to him, waiting.

"I'm fine Dee it's you I'm worried about." Ryo responded with a frown, straightening up and coming over to stand in front of him. "What are you doing Dee?" He asked, worry in his voice, his hand coming up to brush Dee's hair back away from his cheek.

"I'm just listening to the house, that's all." Dee said catching Ryo's hand in his own and holding it. Dee led him over to the couch and sank down in it. Ryo let himself be pulled down nearly in Dee's lap. "Why don't you tell me what you saw when we were leaving this morning?" Dee questioned, keeping his tone low, his grip firm on Ryo's hand, his other arm snaking around Ryo to pull him closer to himself.

Ryo's eyes searched his desperately searching for something, Dee just hoped he could give it him. He watched Ryo's tongue dart out and moisten his lips, watched Ryo's neck move as he swallowed air and tried to work his throat. If it were any other time, any other place, this would be the point where Ryo would start fighting him to get away and more times than not Bikky or someone else would show up to interrupt them. No one was here to save Ryo now. Dee recognized the irony in the situation clearly because if it were any other time he would have already moved in on those wet lips and used the rising body heat between them to push his advantage. But not now, not this time, not with this mess going on around them and between them. Now he needed Ryo to trust him and open up to him. The quickest way to make that not happen was to try and kiss him, no matter how much he wanted to.

Ryo edged in a little closer of his violation, cautious and slow true, but it did happen their chests coming together and Ryo's bottom coming to settle in Dee's lap, his long legs out to the side. Dee could feel Ryo's heart hammering in his chest. He started to stroke Ryo's back slow and sure, his wide palm pushing into the muscles in firm half circles. Ryo closed his eyes and laid his head against Dee's shoulder. Dee just waited. Sometimes Ryo needed to be pushed, even goaded, into doing things but sometimes he needed all the time in the world, Dee was sure this occasion was of the later types.

Ryo took a deep breath and then another. Dee pulled Ryo's hand up to his mouth and kissed the palm softly and used his thumb to rub this kiss into Ryo's skin. Ryo wanted to tell him. It was just a matter of encouragement and being steady. When he did start to speak it was soft and unsure, the voice of man who couldn't quite make himself believe what his senses told him was real.

"When we were backing out of the drive way. I thought I saw something in the living room window looking back at us. It.. Uh. It looked for all the world like the curtain had lifted back, that's what caught my eye was the curtain moving and when I looked at the window I thought I saw…" Ryo's words died on his lips, trailing off. Dee continued to rub his back and kissed the top of his head.

"Thought you saw what Ryo? You can tell me. You can tell me anything, you know that." Dee encouraged. Ryo nodded his head against his chest making Dee smile.

"It looked like a woman was looking back at us but it couldn't have been because we were the only ones here. And there was no body just the face and a hand on the curtain. I couldn't have seen that but I don't know what else it could have been. Something made that curtain move Dee. I'm sure I didn't imagine the curtain moving. But the face… it wasn't like in those ghost hunting shows you and Bikky watch. It wasn't some glare on the window or anything like that that people see and think they've seen something else." Ryo told him, sitting up a little to look Dee in the eye to see if Dee was laughing at him or was going to tell him 'I told you so.' Dee just looked back at him, all calm assurance and serious intent. Ryo settled back down and listened to Dee's heart.

"So what did she look like then?" Dee prodded him gently, pressing another kiss into Ryo's soft hair, right at the part. Ryo took a moment to gather himself together again.

"It looked like a maniac was grinning at me from the window. Its eyes were wild, like the addicts we see strung out on a bad high. Its face was wide and moon shaped and its mouth was thin and twisted up laughing at me. It wasn't the least bit transparent. I thought ghosts were suppose to be see through. It wasn't, it was horrible. It looked like someone had taken the head off a corpse at the morgue and hung it in the window by its hair. Just suspended there whole and solid with awful mottled grey skin, hanging in the air grinning and laughing at us."

Dee hugged him tight to his chest and rested his cheek on Ryo's head. He thought he'd received the worst of the haunting but from the way Ryo's body was trembling against his and however horrible the description was, it must have been much worse for Ryo to see it in person. He didn't bother trying to talk about it with Ryo, for the moment he just wanted to hold him for as long as he could. They needed to get out of this mess and get back to New York, the sooner the better.

Ryo stirred in his arms again pushing himself up with one hand steadied on Dee's chest. "There's something else I need to tell you, Dee. The other day when you were in the attic, I heard someone calling my name outside. I thought I saw something out in the trees but it was gone to fast to be sure. You know I don't believe in this stuff and I've never paid attention to things like this. What do you think it means? That I saw that…" Ryo fell quiet for a moment but then pressed on. "That I saw that horrible thing in the window and heard someone call my name. Aren't ghosts just suppose to be repeating themselves from the past, like a recording or something?"

Dee searched Ryo's eyes this time, taking in the uncertainty in them before replying. "Not all ghosts are like that Ryo, some are intelligent and can interact with people, the environment. Some things that haunt aren't ghosts at all. I tell you one thing though, something Mother taught me when I was very little."

"What's that Dee?" Ryo asked his head tipped back, listening.

"If you ever hear something call your name and you don't who it is, don't answer. You never know what you'll be inviting in if you do. You got that Ryo? I'm serious here." Dee told him, shaking him a little to get his point across. Ryo stared at him wide eyed. He gave a half nod and settled back into Dee's arms. He didn't care how it looked. He hadn't really wanted to come back to the house. The longer he mulled over what he had seen the more the horror of it settled on him like a weight. Dee's warm body and strong hold were keeping that horror at bay, making it easier for him to breathe a little while his mind tried to cope with its new understanding of reality. A reality he just couldn't wait to get away from.

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Author's Note: Thank you to those who reviewed!!!! And those who favorited and added to their alerts. That makes me a very happy writer indeed. I think I responded to everyone who reviewed individually, however, I was having some issues with the internet cutting in and out on me. If you didn't hear from me poke me if you want but if otherwise just know I read it and greatly appreciated it.

I know this is sort of a slow burn story but it is rated at the highest rating for a reason, we'll be edging into more physical territory in the next few chapters as well as some more hopefully scary adventures, yes?

All thoughts are welcome, including criticism. Love and kisses to all.


	7. It's The Little Things

Working on that M rating I have. Heads Up! Also why this should be an AU as I have them getting together under much different pretenses than the original story line.

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own FAKE or it's characters. I am only playing with them for a little while, non profit wise, and completely for the enjoyment of it.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and to all those who have added me to their favorites or alert list.

Dear Traci, I'm working without a beta so I apologize for the to/too debacle, even though I know which is which it's hard to catch them in my own writing because my brain stubbornly glosses over the mistakes. I'll try to keep it to a minimum.

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Ryo was so obligated and responsible, it was disgusting really, Dee thought to himself. He had eventually shifted out of Dee's hold and started straightening up the house. Dee just let him go. It's the way he was and God knows Dee loved him for it even if he would have preferred to continue snuggling on the couch. Dee stood and stretched out his long limbs. He was bored. He hoped to continue to remain bored. Bored right up until they got on their plan back to New York. Unless relieving said boredom had to do with Ryo and a great deal of nakedness Dee was sure he would be just fine bored. Rather bored than terrorized by the miniature Amityville horror house he as staying at.

He did note with some satisfaction that Ryo was not exactly prancing in and out of the kitchen as if nothing bothered him. Every time he went through the kitchen door he hesitated, his eyes twitching over the dented wall. Not that he enjoyed seeing Ryo scared but Dee hoped that Ryo would now give him a little more credit in the future and not treat him like a child the way he had back in England when he and Bikky had seen the ghost of the owner's daughter. Unsaid, even in the privacy of his own mind, was a desire for Ryo to be more accepting of Dee's Catholic upbringing and the other spiritual or paranormal things he believed in. He wasn't technically a practicing Catholic but it was a strong part of Dee in a cultural sense. A part of Dee that he couldn't, currently, share with Ryo. Not to say that he wanted Ryo to have some sort of conversion just that Dee himself wanted a little more leeway with Ryo that didn't feel so much like he was politely being patronized.

Dee grabbed a can of comet out from under the sink in the master bathroom and went to work cleaning. It wasn't exactly dirty to begin with but it gave him something to do and he knew Ryo well enough to know that part of the cleaning wasn't just for his nerves. Ryo made their beds when they stayed at hotels. It didn't matter that a maid was going to strip the bedding off to be washed. He would make them up anyway. The only difference from at home was that he pulled the sheets and blankets back from the pillows and made the bed with them folded halfway back to the foot of the bed so no one would think the maid had already come.

Dee grinned to himself at the thought. Ryo had his OCD tendencies but they were more endearing than aggravating. Maybe that was the difference between loving someone and lusting for someone. Dee hadn't come from a family background, it never failed to amaze him the things that built up a relationship and the things that would crush it. Breakups might come about because of some horrible catalyst but there was nearly always a build up that Dee could see happening, a turning point where the little things started to grate on their partner's nerves. The times Dee had wanted to intervene and tell one of his buddies that he needed to quit telling the girl that he loved her and work more on the showing it were numerous. Sometimes those buddies were girls, sometimes those partners were men. Sometimes it was friend in a same sex relationship. Dee just didn't feel he had the right to because before Ryo there hadn't been well, a Ryo. Dee never played anyone letting them think there relationship was one thing when it was another. He had a few suitors that had clung on stubbornly thinking he would change but he never led them on.

But still, the urge was there, to intervene and give his point of view. Small things mattered. Cleanliness mattered to Ryo, politeness mattered to Ryo, and while Dee didn't intend to change for Ryo he could see the point in lending a helping hand when it really mattered. Now it really mattered. Now when Ryo's nerves were so raw, when he was so upset, Dee could pick up a cloth and some cleaner. It didn't mean when they were back at home that Dee's apartment would be up to Ryo's standards the next time Ryo came over, just like Ryo helping out with a Superbowl Sunday party did not mean that Ryo was suddenly going to develop a passionate interest in sports. It meant that Dee cared enough that he accepted Ryo quirks and all and worked around those quirks when need be and he was really lucky to see Ryo doing the same for him. And so he scrubbed, although he wasn't convinced that scrubbing a harvest yellow sink, tub and toilet bowl helped it look any cleaner than it already was, at least the mirror would look like it had been cleaned and it was a bonus that this bathroom wasn't done up in the same pepto pink as the other one in the house.

On the other side of the house Ryo was cleaning the Jack and Jill bathroom that was suppose to be his and Dee's while they were staying there. Not that they had used it to dirty it but it was there and for him that was good enough reason to clean it. His mind felt better with his hands were in motion. He had plans to dust down everything he could reach in the other rooms when he was finished with the bathroom. He didn't feel comfortable touching other people's belongings so it was only going to be major surfaces and not the thorough cleaning he wanted to do but it would keep him occupied for awhile at least.

One of them was suppose to call Chief later in the day and update him. Update him to what Ryo wondered as he cleaned? Can't find anything, can we come home please? Which would work until the disturbances started up again and then he was sure he and Dee would be in for one of Chief's infamous chewing outs. What if Chief thought they had been lax, would he carry through with his threat to transfer him out of the 27th precinct? He hadn't told Dee about that yet, wasn't sure what he was suppose to say that Dee wouldn't take the wrong way. It was maddening, why of all things did the Chief have to send him here after making that threat. Why did it have to be this messed up place? A hundred questions and no easy answers. Ryo blew out his breath in irritation and leaned back from the mirror he had been wiping down meeting his own dark eyes in the surface.

He had to admit, even to himself he looked worried and out of sorts. That would never do, Dee would see right through him. Ryo tried to smooth his features out by command but knew his eyes would give him away. At least Dee wasn't pushing the issue with him about whether or not there were ghosts. That was some slight reprieve to be grateful for he thought to himself. Ryo's mind slid off to other things, Dee wanted to go out tonight to get dinner from that place that looked like it served White Castles. Trust Dee to come all the way to the coastal South and be more interested in eating fastfood than going out to try some of the local cuisine. Ryo smiled to himself. Dee was something else. He was so alive in that way, he just burst outwards doing all manner of strange unexpected things. Dee couldn't wait to go try tiny hamburgers and because he couldn't Ryo couldn't either. Just to see Dee's reaction was reason enough to go, he took such pleasure in doing such small things, he really was like having a big overgrown kid sometimes.

Ryo was lost in his thoughts, gathering up the cleaning supplies to leave, when the doors to the bathroom swung closed startling him to attention. In the mirror he saw both doorknobs locks turn over and could hear them click into place. The hairs on the back of his neck and arms stood on end but the chill down his spine wasn't all nerves, the temperature in the bathroom began to rapidly plummet. Ryo shivered in the sudden coldness completely unnerved now and on edge. Behind him the tub's glass door unsteadily pulled itself closed, metal grinding against metal, shrill and scratchy, the hot water coming on in the shower in a forceful blast, steam trailing through the cold air and fogging up the mirror Ryo was staring into, his eyes wide and frightened.

Ryo had to get out of there, the need to take flight hammering hard in his chest, he dashed for the first door trying to unlock it with shaky fingers. Stubbornly it refused to turn in his grasp, the lock remaining bolted no matter how much pressure he applied to it and the knob was slick with steam. Ryo slammed his hand open palmed against the solid door in frustration. He turned and made for the other door, the one leading into the girl's bedroom and yanked hard on the door handle struggling against another lock he couldn't open.

In the bathtub he could hear bottles of shampoo and conditioner and the bar of soap on its ledge tumbling into the bottom of the tub, perfuming the air with the unmistakable scent of strawberry scented shampoo and Dial Gold antibacterial soap. The toothpaste on the counter top popped off zinging up to smack the mirror and ricochet off Ryo's shoulder, toothpaste spurting out all over the counter with force. The folded towels flew off the rack they were on and sailed across the room to hit Ryo before fluttering to the floor. The chaos growing around him by the minute.

Ryo was near hysterical trying to get out of the enclosed room, repeatedly smacking on the door, beating it and shaking it in its frame. And then Dee was suddenly there to save him, with the loud crunch of splintered wood he had kicked in the door opposite of Ryo, shattering the doorframe and part of the door in the process. Grabbing Ryo about his waist and pulling him out into the boy's bedroom and then out into the hallway where blessedly there were no more doors to slam shut and lock of their own accord. Dee kept pulling him, nearly lifting him off his feet until they were in living room. And then he just held on, his arms strong and sure around Ryo waiting for his panic to subside, waiting for him to twist in his arms and to cling to him.

And cling he did, his own arms tight around Dee's neck, his face buried against his shoulder letting Dee rub his back in soothing circles to ease the shaking and whisper in his ear over and over again that it was okay baby, he had him, he was okay, it was okay. Even if it wasn't it was soothing to hear when pressed so firmly against Dee's chest, both their hearts beating hard and heavy in their ribcages. Dee's tight grasp was for both their sakes, Ryo's to draw comfort from and Dee's to ascertain to himself that his Ryo was in his arms and unharmed.

Time dragged on, neither man willing to move because they both knew if they fled now nothing short of a miracle would ever get them back inside the house again. The bathroom continued to emit strange noises and the sounds of things being bashed about but the sounds grew further apart and with less intensity until they finally petered out. The water from the shower being the last to go the pipes and faucets whining as the water came to a stop. Silence descended upon them leaving them with a sense of gratitude for the peace but marred by a sense of dread in the now quiet air.

Ryo still shivered slightly in Dee's arms but had otherwise pulled himself back together. He had a tendency towards being claustrophobic, something he worked hard to overcome while he was at work, it wouldn't do to be a detective that wouldn't go where the evidence leads. He was usually pretty proud of his ability to function past his fears, even dismiss them completely. All that hard won control had been ripped right out of him in that narrow, windowless bathroom, every single pounding fear of being trapped in a confined space had reared their ugly heads and screamed in his mind.

Dee was seeing him at his most vulnerable, afraid, shaken to his core and reduced to trembling against him like a scared child. Ryo didn't want to meet his eyes. Unspoken rules of men, show no weakness, show no fear. Ryo tried so hard to do neither but every time his courage had failed him it had been Dee who had been there seeing just as he was now. Ryo turned his face up to meet Dee's eyes, his intense, piercing eyes, so he could see the judgment in them. But Dee's eyes were as frightened as Ryo's and filled with nothing but concern and bright with worry. Ryo found himself quieting down from the adrenaline rush staring into those eyes and realizing that Dee wasn't accusing him of any fault within him.

They both jumped when Dee's cellphone burst into the beginning of a rambunctious song and then laughed at their own edginess. Dee still kept one arm on Ryo, firm around his back, as he answered the caller ID identifying Tank on the other end, her voice crackling warmly into Dee's ear.

"Well hey there stranger. I thought you two were going to call me and let me know how much the boss man owes you. You didn't forget did ya? Cuz you know I'm not letting you guys pay for anything." She asked and pushed at the same time. Dee found he could get out a laugh. It was good to hear her voice.

"No we didn't forget. We've been too busy with the house trying to attack us to get around to calling you." He told her curious to see what her reaction would be. He could hear her taking in a deep breath from the other end of the line.

"Oh. Okay. Hold on for me Dee. Don't go anywhere." She said before addressing someone else there with her, making promises to someone to make it up later and apologizing for calling their night short. Dee tried to protest, not meaning for her to stop whatever she had been doing but it was already to late by the time she turned her attention back to him on the phone.

"Hey now, we're full grown men. We can handle it, you go one and hang out with your daughter or who ever that was you were talking to." He tried one last time but Ellen brushed him.

"Oh hush youngin, I'm a grown woman too, I can make my own choices. Now just answer me straight here Dee, are you two shook up enough you need to leave or will you be all right till I get there?" She got straight to the point, her tone one that dared him to give her a tussle if he thought he was man enough. He had been wrong before about her, or at least not entirely right, she wasn't so much like him as she was like his Mother. She wasn't about to be pushed around by the likes of him or anyone else. Dee slid his hand over the phone's speaker and relayed the message to Ryo. He knew Ryo was going to say he was staying, at least until Tank got there, and then no doubt Ryo wouldn't feel it appropriate to leave a woman alone in what he considered a dangerous situation, so there was another potential fight on his hands. With his thoughts confirmed by Ryo's whispered insistence that they stay Dee told her they would be there when she arrived and asked how long would she be.

"Not terribly long sweetheart. I'm at a friend's house. Be there quick as I can. You two find someplace to wait for me, anything else happens just wait in your car, very little actually goes on out in the front yard. Call me if you need me. Kisses and kiss Ryo for me." She told him before hanging up. Dee was biting back a laugh as he slid his phone back into his pocket. It was obvious from Ryo's face that he had heard Tank tell him to kiss him. A big grin split his face and he tightened his grip before Ryo could move a way.

"You heard the lady Ryo. I'm only doing as I was directed. You don't want me to let Tank down now do you? That would just be plain rude." He said, choosing to graze Ryo's neck when Ryo turned his face to avoid being kissed.

"What sort of lady tells a man to kiss another man. Stop it Dee, this isn't the time for your horsing around." Ryo huffed at him. Dee decided to push the issue anyway since Ryo wasn't actively struggling to get away and his words didn't sound quite as forceful as they normally did. He placed his lips behind the lobe of Ryo's exposed ear, giving the soft skin a warm, gentle peck before sliding his tongue out to lap at the slight dampness left by kiss. Ryo stilled and tensed in his hold, a little murmur slipping past his lips. When no further protests came Dee moved to trace his jawline with his lips, planting kisses side by side all the way down his jaw and then detouring to place a kiss at the corner of Ryo's mouth.

Ryo unexpectedly turned into the kiss, bringing his mouth around to meet Dee's, not exactly kissing him back but definitely leaving himself open for Dee to continue and capture his mouth more fully. Lips met and parted, Dee's tongue already sliding in, warm and wet, pushing against Ryo's tongue, lapping in and claiming dominance. Dee's hands moved up to press Ryo against him more firmly and then traveled downwards to grab his ass and push their hips into each other.

Ryo always felt overwhelmed when Dee kissed him, touched him this way. He always felt like he losing himself in Dee while knowing somewhere in his gut that it wasn't the same as what Dee felt. He knew it because he could never imagine Dee being nearly faint and trembling in his arms the way he was in Dee's embrace. Maybe it was just his inexperience that made him feel this way. Maybe it was just because it was Dee, Ryo didn't know because there is only so much soul searching a person can do before the only answers that are left to obtain are the sort you get from going through it rather than thinking on it. He couldn't think anymore, he didn't really want to. Not right now, right now he wanted to feel safe in Dee's arms. Wanted something physical to connect to that would push the nasty fright he had had the rest of the way out of his body. Wanted Dee's ardor and passion to muddle his mind and take it to another place.

So he let Dee push him down into the couch, let him cover his body with his own and kiss his lips into bruised submission. Let his head roll back into the cushions exposing his throat to Dee's eyes knowing it would turn him on more. When Dee's hands worked the buttons free on shirt he gently encouraged him by letting his own hands slide up Dee's shoulders and lifting the small of his back upwards when Dee's hands came back to his now bare abdomen. Such large warm hands Dee had, calloused from work and long fingered, they were something Ryo couldn't help but admire and love the way they felt on his skin. One hand lightly pressed Ryo's stomach before sliding off to prop Dee up, the other slid around into the hollow he had made for it and came to settle low on Ryo's back the tips sliding in between his jeans and his skin.

It felt so good. As much as he had struggled to understand himself, to understand what he was afraid of, to not be in this position where being so open felt like a weakness to him, Ryo still knew it felt better than anything he had ever had before with another person. He did feel weak, weak and vulnerable, exposed and submissive. Everything he thought he despised in himself but his body wanted it so badly, to give in, to let Dee have control. It was only just now, when he had been so absolutely frightened, that he had understood that Dee wasn't going to make him less of man by dominating him physically. It just didn't work that way, he would still be him because Dee wouldn't want him to change, didn't see Ryo as being weak regardless of whose lips went where and who wound up underneath. It had been in Dee's shaking arms and thundering heart when he had held Ryo so close right after freeing him from the bathroom. Dee was driven to protect him, claim him, but he wasn't out to make him the lesser of the two. It was just how Dee was and if Ryo couldn't fault him for that than maybe he shouldn't fault himself for just being the way he was.

Ryo let his eyes drift shut and sighed when Dee's mouth found the offered throat, firm lips suckling and nipping at his skin, lightly marking him and working their way down to his chest. He felt and heard when Dee popped the first button on his jeans, this was as far as he had ever let Dee actually go. He was suppose to freak right about now and wrestle his way up and away from Dee and his long fingers and smoldering gaze. Dee didn't push it, he just kept up his assault with his mouth, now working at the slight hollow beneath Ryo's right collar bone, tasting it with the tip of his tongue, and seeing how Ryo would respond. When no resistance was met his fingers freed the second button and Ryo arched up a little bit more pushing himself up against Dee so they both could feel each other's half hard erections rubbing against each other through their jeans.

Dee smiled against Ryo's chest and moved down to claim a nipple in between his teeth. Ryo tensed upwards with a hard gasp. Now fully arched Dee could get his hand on Ryo's backside to slide in past his boxers and fully knead into his ass. Ryo buried one hand in Dee's hair and gripped his unoccupied arm tightly in response as if he could hold Dee's mouth and hands to him that way.

Dee was driving him crazy. It was getting out of control and all of his internal alarms bells were going off but it felt so incredible and Dee was so confident above him, so damn precise about making him want more even if Ryo was terrified of what his body wanted. Dee freed the poor abused nipple only so he could reclaim Ryo's mouth and kiss him much harder than he had ever kissed him before. Ryo could only breathe in small gasps and everything else was Dee's cigarette kiss, his tongue pushing in as far as possible, touching the walls of his mouth, licking at the insides, suckling at his tongue, worrying his bottom lip before moving to start all over again. Ryo's body was erupting in sensations. His stomach muscles tying and untying, his hips arching up without him meaning for them too, light sweat prickling up on his skin. He felt like he might be flying apart.

Dee had kept himself braced up on one arm, holding himself far enough above Ryo that Ryo's own need to twist up into the contact allowed Dee more access to backside. He knew they weren't going to go all the way, somewhere in Ryo's mind Ryo knew it to, Tank would be here soon and whatever they were doing was going to come to an abrupt halt but Dee was damned if he was going to give this chance up to go just that much further than Ryo had allowed him before. It was a damn gift of trust when it came to Ryo and Dee wasn't about to let it go.

Ryo was so lovely and hot beneath it was his considerable will power that was keeping Dee from losing control of the situation. He just wanted Ryo to have some really fantastic sensations to remember for later, something to break the virgin ice he knew he was treading on. Dee kept him distracted with his mouth while working his fingers back and forth into the flesh of his ass cheek while moving himself so both of his legs were within Ryo's thighs. He did not want to get kicked or kneed by a surprised Ryo when he made his next move because that would not be a pleasant ending for either of them. Dee released the warm flesh he had been groping and eased his hand over towards the cleft between Ryo's cheeks, lightly skimming his middle and ring finger over the sensitive flesh before sliding them into the cleft and down wards so that the pads of his fingers brushed over the puckered, tightly sensitive opening into Ryo's body. He applied gentle pressure, not pushing into him, instead pushing against the skin surrounding the opening and the area right behind Ryo's balls.

Ryo tensed up immediately, his eyes shooting open and his mouth breaking contact with Dee's. Dee stared down into those eyes, so dark and turbulent. Ryo was close to bolting, his body shaking, but Dee held on, holding Ryo's stare with his own while he continued to massage Ryo with his fingertips. Ryo was so hard his erection was breaking past the top of his boxers and partially open jeans, fluid was building at the swollen tip. His face was flushed both in embarrassment and pleasure and his fingers were gripping onto Dee to tightly that Dee was anticipating the bruises he would have later.

Ryo was struggling to not push down onto Dee's fingers out of instinct. When Dee leaned back over him kissing his cheek and nuzzling against his neck, nuzzling up to his ear, Ryo's closed his eyes. He tried to even out his breathing while Dee's breath blew warm against his face as he murmured in his ear.

"It's all right. I'm not going to do anything else. I promise. Just relax.. Just enjoy it Ryo." Dee whispered to him and continued whispering between soft kisses. Whispers of how much he loved him, wouldn't hurt him, that he had him, it was all okay, he was fine. Ryo couldn't relax but he was becoming less tense and more inflamed by the curious sensations Dee's fingers were giving his body as they rubbed and pressed rhythmically against him, nearly entering but always hanging just back from doing so. Ryo's lower stomach was all but quivering on the inside, there was a distinct throb in his cock that matched his heavy heart beat.

Ryo knew he should be grabbing Dee back, fondling him or something, in return but it was all he could do to just keep breathing and ride out what Dee was doing to him. Dee didn't really seem to mind being neglected and Ryo couldn't think about it much more. There was too much going on in his own body to pay attention.

Dee was paying attention, strict attention, not just to Ryo and the oh so heavenly responses he was getting from him, but to the surroundings. He heard the crunch of wheels moving off the highway and into the driveway, saw the swing of the headlights as the car pulled in. Play time was over. Dee gave one last hard push against Ryo's bottom, this time letting his finger tip breach Ryo's entrance slightly before pulling his hand out of his jeans. Ryo nearly bucked him off when he did it but it had the desired effect of snapping him back to attention and giving him a good jolt. Ryo let go of his hold on Dee's upper arms and sat up slightly, listening to car grinding to halt promptly turned the most beautiful shade of red that Dee had ever seen him blush.

"Come on, lets get you a little more presentable before she gets here." Dee told him pushing himself up to stand and reaching out to pull Ryo up to his feet. He half guided, half shoved Ryo into the master bedroom kicking the door shut behind them. Ryo stared at him wildly as the clear sound of Ellen's keys turning in the door reached his ears.

"Boys?" She called out as she crossed the entrance way. Ryo's mouth hung up and he gulped air for a minute but Dee, ever ready, came to his rescue.

"We're in here Tank. Be out in just a minute, if you want to check out what happened the mess is in the bathroom between the kids bedroom." Dee hollered out as he continued to back Ryo into the master bathroom.

"K. Talk to you in a minute then." Ellen replied before presumably heading off in that direction.

Dee cupped Ryo's erection, rubbing it lightly through the material. "Sorry that's going to have to wait for a bit but I swear I'll make it up to you." He told a still wide eyed Ryo before gently pushing Ryo into the the bathroom for the second time that day and pulling the door nearly closed on him. "I'll buy you some time." He said through the door before turning to go back out to meet with Ellen after ducking briefly into the kitchen to wash his hands and splash his own face with some water. That an pull his shirt out to cover his own fading erection from Tank's prying eyes.

Coming into the hall way Dee heard Tank whistle low and long. He didn't know if they were going to be in trouble over the door or not but he'd take all the heat for it if there was trouble. It wasn't until he came up through the broken door that he got a real eye view of just what she was whistling at. The bathroom looked like a bomb had blown up in it. Towels and washclothes were in the sink, the toilet, the tub, all over the floor. The counter was covered in a multitude of cleaning and bath products, bottles spilled everywhere of every size and shape. But it was mirror that was the real attraction. Toothpaste had been used to write in huge scrawling letters "Go Away Pigs". It didn't help that the letters were sliding off the mirror giving it an even more clownish and in Dee's mind, evil effect.

"Well, well now Dee. Seems like you two gents had a fine evening if I do say so myself." Tank paused for a minute, hands on her hips taking in the destruction. She blew out a raspberry before speaking again. Her next words catching Dee off guards. "Now see here you stupid old hag and company. I am not cleaning this mess up. I expect it to be cleaned up before I get home or else. And you better believe there will be an or else. I'll have that preacher woman from the holly roller speaking in tongues congregation come down here and do another cleansing. You got that you horrid old bitch."

With that she spun on her heel and grabbed a shocked Dee by his arm pulling her along with him. "What say we all skip this nonsense tonight. Obviously it has not been a good day for you boys. What rubbish making such a big mess not once but twice. Nothing for it. Go get pretty boy and we'll got get something to eat. Than I'll set you up for a night in the hotel, on me, well not really, on the boss but he'll live. I never use my spending money anyway."

Tank chattered away as she pulled him along in a manner reminiscent of Mother's when Dee had just been a boy and she was had things for him to do. She wasn't asking, she was informing and doing so busily. By the time she had them back down the hall way a mostly recovered Ryo opened the master bedroom door.

"Changes of plans Ryo. Grab a bag for you and Dee. He doesn't look the sort that knows how to pack an overnight bag. We're off to find food and lodging for you two boys for the night, maybe more than a night. You should have told me on the phone it was this bad. Thank heavens there was no razors in that bathroom or I'd be scared to see what ya'lls faces looked like. Go on now, shoo. Get a moving. I ain't hanging around here all night." She bustled along shoving Dee towards Ryo and waving them both off with her hands.

The two men scurried to grab what things they would need as fast they could and throwing them together in a reusable shopping bag while listening to Ellen on the phone with her boss and more or less out and out lying to him as she talked.

"Yeah, yeah. Terrible about that pipe letting go like that, Dee got it stopped and repaired, he's so useful I need one of them for my own." ….. "What? No? The house is fine, they've just had a rough day is all and thought it best to get them out of here for awhile, let them get some decent rest and come back later with a fresh mind."…. "Found anything yet? What do you mean? What are you expecting them to find? They found they ain't nobody hiding in the attic, or in the shed out back, or under any beds. People just get spooked easy, like I told ya, but they sure are hard workers. I think they plan on coming back with some fancy equipment to see if anybody buried anything in the walls. Don't know about all that though, might be expensive and I don't know what kind of money those boys brought with them." …. "Oh you'll pay for it? Well isn't that generous?… "Whelp have to be going now Mr. Desmont, you and your missus take care, I'll call back or have them boys call you when they find something out. Yep.. Have a good night."

And she was waving them out the door and ushering them over to her car just like that, the cellphone not even fully closed before she was locking the deadbolt. "Ya'll ride with me, the roads are dark and no sense in two vehicles being out here in it when it's not necessary. I'll get you back to the house in the morning if you want." For a large woman she had a lot of energy and they were both racing to keep close to her as she beelined for her car. And oh what a car it was, Dee's little heart tripped over in his chest at the sight of the 1979 Ford Cougar. It was humongous.

Tank laughed at him and handed him the keys. "Here you go city boy, I can see the glint in your little beady eyes even in the dark. Just remember, it's old, it's cranky, and it will still suck to hit a deer with one of them." Dee snatched the keys gratefully while Ryo seemed to pause mid step.

"Oh? Is that why you don't want us driving the rental car tonight? Are the deer out here that much of a danger?" He asked Ellen, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Yep. So be watching for them on the side of the road all right? That goes for you to Dee, watch where your driving, she'll take a pretty hard hit but hunting deers with cars is always a bad way to go. Ryo, get in the front with Dee. I'm tired. I'm taking nap. Wake me up when we get to Rincon. You know where your going Dee?" Was the last thing she said before climbing in the back seat and buckling in.

Dee assured her he knew what he was doing and would wake her when they hit Rincon. It wasn't but a few minutes down the long dark road that both men became aware that Ellen really had gone to sleep, she was snoring softly in ebbs and flows as her head rolled on the back of the seat.

Dee looked over at Ryo barely visible even in the moonlight. "Ryo." He nudged at him quietly.

"Yeah Dee?" Ryo answered back in a whisper.

"What would you have done if Tank hadn't arrived to save you?" Dee dared to ask. Ryo didn't answer, just turned his attention to the world slipping by outside his window. Dee didn't ask again, particularly since the night wasn't over yet and there was a hotel room waiting for them at the end of the ride.

Dee gave the car a bit of gas and left Ryo to his undoubtedly colorful thoughts.

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Things are heating up both on the case and between the detectives!

Thank you again for all the lovely reviews!! I love hearing from you guys.


	8. Long Dark Ride

Notes: I apologize for the extremely short chapter, I had a bit of mishap and managed to lose half a chapter. Rather than making everyone wait while I retype it I've decided to go ahead and post what I had and play catch up later.

Thank you to everyone who is reading and all those who reviewed. Again my apologies for the long lag between chapters and the abbreviated nature of this chapter.

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Ryo watched the world swim past in dark blurs and swirling patterns of the blackness of the trees slipping past. He wanted to go home. He wanted to get the hell out of this place and back into his own environment. His mind was in a worse mess than before Chief had sent him on this trip. Sourly he wondered if the Chief would have deemed any of this 'progress' or not. Was it progress to find yourself doubting yourself, your beliefs and what you considered to be appropriate behavior while trying to fight down an absolutely traitorous body that had no problem disregarding anything his brain had to say?

Dee didn't understand what he was doing to him. Or, hell, maybe Dee did and he was the only one who wasn't able to get with the program. It wasn't fair. Ryo didn't want to be gay but nobody else surrounding him seemed to give a damn about his opinion. He'd love to scream at Dee, to tell him that ever since he made it his mission to pursue him that none of the females in their building flirted with him anymore. That it made him mad, that it infuriated him that because of Dee and Rose he wasn't allowed to define who he was anymore, he was just the caricature of what they wanted him to be and no longer a person in control of his own image.

Damn them anyway. Damn them both for making him have to think about these things in the first place. Ryo sighed to himself, focusing on his own dim reflection in the window, his own sad eyes impossibly large and slightly warped in the glass. Just behind him he could see Dee's thigh and his arm, the hand, long and elegant on the steering wheel. It crossed his mind what J.J. would be doing if he were here instead of Ryo. He wouldn't be staring out the window with his body pressed hard to the door trying to get as much distance between himself and Dee as possible. No, he'd be pressed right against that lean, hard thigh, and trying to find a way to get in Dee's lap without causing a wreck.

J.J. knew what he wanted, why didn't he? Why couldn't it be easy? Ryo wanted things to be easy. And calm. Or at least he used to think that was what he wanted. Now he didn't know. Just thinking about a life that didn't involve Dee seemed so lackluster he couldn't even begin to imagine it now. He couldn't imagine a wife or a girlfriend in his future anymore. He couldn't think of any point in his experiences where kissing a woman had even come close to what it felt like when Dee kissed him. He had known something was missing when he had been with women but leave it to Dee to burn through and make it abundantly clear just what was missing.

And leave it to Rose to make it just as abundantly clear that his body's reactions were something reserved for Dee and Dee alone. Ryo thought to himself that Dee actually owed Rose quite a lot and just didn't know it, not that Rose would appreciate the lessons Ryo was learning from him. Ryo settled back into his seat and went back to watching the trees go by, here and there giving way to houses the closer they got to Rincon. He was hungry, tired, cranky, and a stubborn residual of fear still coated his nerves. He could use a calm night but he very much doubted that Dee intended to let him have one.

Across from him Dee drove on through the darkness, appreciating the power of the car he was in and watching the ditches carefully for any sign of deer or other animals that might dart into his path. They were almost to town now and hopefully to food and a place to rest. He didn't think Tank was actually asleep in the back anymore, once or twice he was sure he had caught her eyes open even as her body was still relaxed and gently rocking in the back seat. She was probably the type of person that could catnap and not need an alarm to wake her up. Ryo was certainly still with him but something about the way he held his body kept Dee from talking to him. Ryo was thinking again. Ryo did that far too much and tied himself up in ridiculously tangled emotional knots. So Dee had held his tongue and pretended that he didn't know Ryo had been watching him in the windows reflection.

Knots upon knots upon thorny knots. Dee didn't have these knots, he just wasn't that sort of person, the worst knots he had involved him being unsure of Ryo and becoming stupidly tongue tied around his partner when it was something important about their relationship. Ryo was such a beautiful problem. He just couldn't make things easy on himself no matter how many times Dee gave him the opportunity. It was maddening but it was Ryo and Dee wanted Ryo to be who he was. Even if it did drive him crazy from time to time.

Pulling into the town proper Tank stirred in the back seat, her voice breaking the silence in the car giving Dee instructions to a Microtel they could stay at for the night. Dee pulled the car into a parking space putting the car in park and let himself out of the vehicle. Time for a cigarette, way past time. Dee nursed the cigarette while Ryo went with Tank to get them a room. The night air was humid, it made him feel like the smoke was sticking to his clothes and skin, coating him rather than dispersing in the air. Dee leaned up against the car and attempted to blow the smoke further away from him.

Slow minutes passed while he stood there in the dark thinking about nothing and being uncomfortable in the heat. By the time Ryo and Tank walked back towards him his shirt was clinging damply to his chest and he was pretty sure Ryo was safe from any sort of molestation for the night because his jeans felt like they were now permanently glued to his body.

It seemed like forever before he saw them coming back towards him. Tank walked up and stuck her hand out, wiggling her fingers and her palm up. Dee dutifully handed over the keys. Her fingers curled around them and she gave him a smile and a nod in thanks.

"Pretty boy tells me that your wanting to have Krystals for dinner tonight. So I'm going to go an obtain said Krystals and come back with the booty in hand." Tank winked and slid into her car. Dee stood with Ryo and watched her pull back out into the night.

"Why does she call me pretty boy?" Ryo wondered out loud. Dee laughed before he could think better of it.

"What?" Ryo asked. "You're much prettier than I am." He said folding his arms over his chest. Dee declined to elaborate instead he grabbed one of Ryo's elbows and pulled him towards the entrance and the air conditioning it promised.

"Why indeed my Ryo, why indeed."


	9. Krystals and Double Beds

The retyped second part of the previous chapter. Beta'ed hastily, sorry for any typos and glitches. I'm trying to make up for lost time at this point. Thank you again to everyone reading.

Thank you to everyone for such wonderful reviews, I hope everyone continues to enjoy the story.

SewingLifeAlchemist: This is the second half of the chapter you read. I retyped it as fast as I could. Hope you enjoy and thanks so much for both reviews. ^___^

IttyBittyKitty: Glad you enjoyed Chapter 7! Hope you are still reading, not this chapter but the next the boys will be steaming things up again.

Captain Shanks: Dee was incredibly close!!!! ^__^ He'll get his chance again, promise.

And much thanks to Na-Na1026, Soubi202, Angelstars, Mena Madvin, Brit Columbia, Apelilly. I've been able to respond to you directly but it never hurts to let people know how much you appreciate them commenting and reading.

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Tank didn't stay after bringing back their food; she had thrust the bags of food into Ryo's arms without even crossing the threshold into the room. It was enough food to feed an entire army or Dee and Bikky on a good day. He was still trying to settle the food on the dresser top without spilling it even as Ellen was making her excuses and promising to be back for them tomorrow morning. And then the door shut and Ryo was left alone with Dee again.

Ryo cast a glance over at Dee stretched out on one of the two full sized beds in the hotel room. Dee's eyes met his, he felt like prey staring into the eyes of a calm and prepared predator. He could claim that without Ellen there for the evening they no longer had to share a bed. It had been Ryo's biggest concern up until Ellen had bailed on them for the night, having to share a bed with Dee after the events earlier in the evening. The saying out of the frying pan and into the fryer immediately came to mind. No Ellen, no needing to share a bed, but no Ellen also met no reason whatsoever for Dee to restrain himself.

Dee was off the bed heading towards the food leaning over into his personal space without leaving a way for Ryo to put distance between them, Dee had him blocked between his body and the hotel room door. Ryo went about getting his own food and ignored Dee as much as possible, which wasn't much considering Dee took every advantage to brush against Ryo's back, his arm, the outside of Dee's thigh meeting the back of Ryo's.

The minute Dee backed off Ryo bolted for the other bed and pushed his self up against the headboard and spread his food out on his lap. Dee didn't return to his bed though, nope, he plopped himself down on Ryo's bed just past Ryo's bent legs and made himself right at home. Ryo glared at him but as usual it just glanced right off of Dee's thick head as the other detective set into his food with gusto. Dee had polished off his fries and six of the tiny little hamburgers in the time it took Ryo to eat half his fries and two of his Krystals, which were indeed kissing cousins of White Castles. Ellen either thought they were both ginormous pigs or she had a firm grip on the fact that Dee was a walking human garbage disposal.

Ryo found himself watching Dee watching him eat, it was certainly not the look of a love struck lover watching another person eat with a fixation for their lips or swallowing, oh no, that wouldn't have been Ryo's Dee. Dee was watching him eat like a poor puppy that had had its bone taken away. Ryo guarded his food a little more closely and gave Dee the look he gave Bikky when he tried it. The look that said 'this is my food, you are not getting it, and I mean it.'

"There's more on the table, go see what else is over there, and quit eyeing my food." Ryo told Dee, his amusement coming through his mock serious tone. Dee sighed dramatically at the indignity of it all but did unfold his self from the bed and go back over to the various bags Ellen had shoved through the door. Dee pulled out a couple of smaller styrofoam boxes out and began opening them. He made a happy squealing sound in the back of his throat and came back to the bed with the two boxes. He opened one up and showed Ryo his find, nestled in the box were three miniature chili cheese hot dogs. Ryo rolled his eyes; well those would be gone soon enough. Dee handed him the other box which he discovered held the exact same thing and set about devouring one entire box by his self.

After eating and Ryo cleaning up all the trash from their fast food feast they both resettled on the same bed, Ryo again at the head sitting up with his reading glasses on and a newspaper he had picked up in the lobby and Dee sprawled across the bed on his back. They were both changed into their night clothes, Ryo's ever present pajamas and Dee's tank and sweats.

"So Ryo, you want to talk about this afternoon and what happened at the Addams Family summer home?" Dee asked, staring up at the ceiling. Ryo carefully turned another page of the newspaper and pretended to focus again on the print. It went without saying that he most certainly did not want to talk about it but not wanting to talk about it wasn't really option. Ryo pulled his lower lip between his teeth while his thoughts dashed around his head.

"Not really but I suppose we must." He finally said, holding the paper up as a shield between him and Dee, silently hoping that the bedside lamp was throwing a glare on his glasses. He did not want Dee searching his eyes because that was a losing bet for Ryo and had been since the first day they met.

"Well, I think we can definitely rule out people hiding speakers to make strange noises to frighten off workers. And all though I believe you can make lighter chairs and furniture move a bit with fishing twine and smaller objects with magnets I don't think what happened today can be filed under Prank Done Well. Do you?" Dee asked, his voice neutral, he could have been talking about any case they had ever been on.

"No, I don't think so either." Ryo replied not liking where the conversation was going and having no way of stopping the conversation from going there.

"So then, are we ready to consider that said house might be having activity outside the realm of normal?" Dee pushed quietly, rearranging words to say the same thing as haunted without using the actual word. Ryo's teeth clicked together. He hated this case, hated it with a growing passion.

"If by outside the realm of normal you are implying the activity is paranormal than I would be forced to agree until sufficient evidence proves otherwise." Ryo said carefully, turning another page of a newspaper he was no longer actually reading.

"Do you have any idea of what you would like us to do about this now that we are in agreement on the situation?" Dee asked. They had to have a plan because it wasn't going to work to report back that the place was haunted but they were going to have to say something and it was going to have to be believable. In other words they were going to have to lie and do it in tandem, which Ryo did not like. He did not like it at all.

"What do you suggest Dee, you're better at this than I am." He said, folding his paper up and putting it on the nightstand with his glasses. Dee didn't move but his eyes finally slid over to meet Ryo's. Dee looked at him in such a strange way that Ryo's heart skipped a beat.

"What I think is you should report back that we found no evidence of anyone being around the house or tampering with it in such a way to cause a disturbance." Dee replied his eyes drifting back up towards the ceiling.

"And what about you Dee? What are you going to report back?" Ryo watched Dee's face carefully, Dee was giving him an easy out but he was concerned about the fact that Dee had not included his self in the equation.

"I will sign off on your report." Was Dee's immediate answer, no hesitation whatsoever. Ryo arched an eyebrow and stared down at Dee from his higher position waiting for the other shoe to fall. Silence stretched out between the two of them. Dee finally broke it after several long seconds.

"There isn't anything else to be done Ryo, don't look at me like that. You write it up and I'll put my name on the appropriate lines. If the Chief asks me directly I'll tell him the truth, that I think it's haunted but I'll leave you out of it." Dee cut across the silence and Ryo's disbelieving look. Ryo blinked.

"Why would you do that? Why would you put yourself out there like that? Chief knows how I feel about things like spirits and ghosts." Ryo said in minor protestation of how Dee intended to handle it.

"That's right Ryo, he knows exactly how you feel about the situation and just how derisive you can be when it comes to what other people believe in. If I let you go back and even hint that you've changed your mind he'll think I somehow talked you into it or browbeat you into saying something you didn't believe. Just leave it alone, you be you and I'll be me. Everyone knows I believe in ghosts because you told everyone about what happened in England. It'll be fine. Besides this is a cracked up assignment to begin with and I can't believe there isn't something more going on with us being sent down here." Dee rambled off moving on the bed. By the time he was done he had rolled over and crept over Ryo's legs. He raised his body up to hover over Ryo's, his arms outstretched on either side of Ryo's head, his fingers curling over the laminated headboard. Dee was staring down at him intently, his far too clever green eyes staring directly into Ryo's. Ryo swallowed nervously.

"Let me ask you this Ryo." Dee continued on. "Is there something you feel the need to tell me?" His voice dropped down low and dark. Ryo stared up at Dee and wondered how long Dee had known about the conversation Chief had had with him that morning that now seemed a life time away. Ryo tried to take a deep breath but that just meant drawing in the various smells that made up Dee from his aftershave to his cigarettes and was far from calming.

"Cat got your tongue Ryo?" Dee lowered his head to Ryo's ear to ask, his voice warm against Ryo's skin. Ryo's eyes slid closed and he turned his head to the side. He wasn't surprised when Dee's lip touched the outer shell of his ear, the tip of his tongue coming out to trace the cartilage and drag over sensitive skin. "Hmm Ryo? Nothing to say at all?" Dee asked before his lips trailed down his neck to his shoulder before breaking contact.

"Well then, let me tell you what I heard since you've nothing to say. I heard our beloved Commissioner Rose in the Chief's office having a conversation about poor little Randy who doesn't know what he really wants. I heard Chief, someone I would have never expected to interfere, handing Rose a piece of his ass." Dee whispered into Ryo's ears pulling back to watch Ryo's eyes go wide. Ryo took a shuddering breath.

"What did Chief say?" Ryo turned to look up into Dee's face his heart in his throat and his stomach fluttering wildly. Dee sat back on his knees and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Chief asked Rose just how much longer he planned to chase after someone not interested in him and didn't he have more pride than to continue harassing one of his detectives. I'll tell you what else he said; he threatened to have you transferred if you couldn't get your act together at work and if that happened he hoped Rose knew he was at least partially to blame. He also said he had already told you this and he hoped that you would solve the problem once you knew it was there." Dee told him all the while watching the reactions flit across Ryo's face.

"I'm pretty sure Chief meant for me to hear that conversation Ryo, seeing as how he called me to his office just for me to arrive to a shut door. Right after Rose stormed out, giving me the death glare, Chief told me about this assignment and to come find you. You weren't going to tell me. I waited all this time trying to give you room and you were never going to tell me that you were in trouble at work and I had something to do with it. Chief doesn't need to spell it out for me like he does Rose, he knew I would know I was the other part of 'partially to blame'. I'm your partner Ryo, you could have told me." Dee finished quietly.

Ryo cast his eyes downward to stare at his twisted together fingers. He could feel the heat in his neck and cheeks. He was mortified that Chief had spoken to Rose and Dee had eavesdropped. Did no one think he could possibly run his own life without their interference? Emotions warred within him, part of him was sorry he had hurt Dee by not confiding in him but part of him was angry and hurt too. When he finally could look back up at Dee both emotions had been beaten back but not completely erased.

"Tell you what Dee? That you couldn't be yourself around me anymore, that I'm too inexperienced and emotional to keep everything from bleeding over into my work? That I'm too weak to handle anything by myself? Would you have really listened Dee? Seriously? Or would you have complained it was all Rose's fault and insisted that if I just gave in to what you just know I want everything would be fine?" Ryo shot out at Dee, his words hard edged and full of acid. Dee didn't say anything at all. He eased one leg off the side of the bed and stood up. He went over to the other bed and climbed in, turning away from Ryo and pulling the covers up to his chin.

Ryo slid down into his own bed turning off the light and plunging the room into darkness. If Dee wanted to act that way and sulk, fine he could act that way too, and with that in mind Ryo turned his back to Dee as well and stared out into the darkness. It was a grim and not entirely pleasant irony that he had apparently gotten his wish and not been pestered to share a bed with Dee after all.


	10. Chap 10 Rainy Memories

Thank you to everyone reading!!!! I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see the reviews or that people have stopped by. This chapter is all introspection for Dee, this is the boys break from the supernatural and chance to really think on things but don't worry! Things will be heating back up between them and with the case real soon!

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It started to rain. Dee thought to his self that it seemed completely appropriate that it should. When it picked up, drumming sideways on the hotel window, the wind gusting hard enough to make it rattle, Dee thought it was all the more appropriate still. Let it rain. Let it come down in torrents and sheets, he was unhappy, the whole world could be unhappy with him. Dee kept his backed to Ryo facing the window, for once he wanted very little to do with Ryo and sort of wished he wasn't in the room with him. He did not feel the familiar ache and want for his pigheaded, obstinate, aggravating, partner instead it was replaced with emotions Ryo was best off not knowing about.

Dee was hurt and fuming, the fuming starting to take the lead, he was sick of this he realized. Absolutely to his gut sick of Ryo and his deliberate stupidity. He was trying here, at least the idiot could give him some credit, but noooooooooo, that was just not how Ryo rolled, now was it? To make it worse he knew, just knew, that Ryo was writing off Dee's reaction as him sulking. Fine. So he was sulking. So fucking be it, he deserved to didn't he? He'd sulk all damn night, he was sure he'd be awake to enjoy every blistering minute of it.

But Dee couldn't really stay angry at Ryo, not for long, and after awhile the cadence of rain on the glass seemed to have a more soothing effect than matching his previous anger. And he was tired, it had been a long, emotional, fucked up kinda day, and his tummy was full, overly full actually, but it was comforting to Dee to be over fed than under fed. Penguin did all she could with all she had at the orphanage and he had never exactly gone hungry but he had gone without enough and even as an adult the sensation of still being hungry when there was no way to end said hunger clung to him.

They had both been abusing the air conditioner unit in their room, turning it to the coldest setting and basking in not feeling hot or sticky. Now, in the night, with the outside temperature cooled by the rain the room seemed more cold than cool and being tucked down in the warm, thick blankets and sheets Dee found himself unwinding despite it all. It wasn't that he didn't understand, he did, he understood Ryo's fear and uncertainty all too well and maybe that was part of the problem he thought to his self.

Dee had gone through this period of his life when he was younger and it had been a relief to him to finally give into who he actually was instead of constantly worrying about it anymore. He wanted that Ryo; he wanted Ryo on the other side of the doubt and internal discord. Maybe he wanted it so much that he forgot how personal the struggle actually was and how different Ryo was from him. No matter how it panned out Ryo didn't have his personality to hide under and he didn't have a Penguin on the end that not only accepted but didn't care much in the first place.

It was the not caring part that had been important he remembered. Dee rolled over onto his back and let the memories surface. He had been scared to tell her but not so scared that he hadn't. He had believed in Mother enough to know she would still love him. His fear had been that the love would be strained, that she would love him despite his confession and that it would no longer be 'Dee that she loved' but 'Dee that she loved despite his sexual tendencies'. Considering the way some of his so called friends had reacted he hadn't really realized how much he had to lose at the time, his faith in Penguin still loving him had been unshakable and she had not failed him, unlike some friends that were better left forgotten.

Dee sometimes forgot that others were not so lucky to have a Penguin that loved so openly and fully. He sometimes forgot that others had more to lose than he did and that Ryo might be one of those people. He had been so much younger too, it had mattered, and it had made it easier in its own way to forge himself into the adult he had become. Dee puffed out air in the general direction of the dark ceiling over his head and felt the familiar nag of guilt creeping up on him.

Ryo had to stop his entire adult life mid track to make this change, that's why it made it easier for him not to, easier to be in denial than to have re-orientate his entire take on life and who he was. It couldn't be easy on him Dee thought but how much harder would it be to keep living his life as a lie? Could he really keep going that way his entire life? Dee didn't think he could but he wouldn't doubt that Ryo damn sure would try and waste his life away while he was at it. Mine too if I let him Dee thought ruefully to himself, pulling a face in the darkness.

Dee thought back to his first time being under someone, the first time things had gone past grasping and groping, to actual penetration. It had been with an older man, looking back on it Dee knew he had just been a fresh piece of ass for the man but he held no real regrets. He had learned a lot in that relationship and he hadn't really been under too many illusions himself at the time. It had not been love, most of Dee's relationships had been so far removed from love that it would be laughable to try and paint them in that hue just to make his memories prettier.

Dee had fallen in love a few times in his life, or what he thought was love, and it had left him feeling vulnerable. He didn't like that so he hadn't pursued that. It had been that simple, people at the precinct could talk about his rep all they wanted, he had never, ever, led anyone to his bed under the guise of love, not even as a hot, hormone riddled teenager. He got laid because he was good looking and knew he was and because people responded to his looks and his confidence. If they needed to be in love to get in the sack than they had been better off looking elsewhere, he didn't mind metaphorical notches on his bed post at all, broken hearts were another matter. Penguin had taught him better than that and he had never let her down, which was why he had not bedded JJ no matter how much the smaller man tried to get his attention. Dee had his own sense of honor and his honor would not let him take like that when he knew what it would mean to JJ.

Just like his honor had kept him from taking advantage of Ryo the night he had stumbled into Dee's arms willing to let him do whatever he wanted just to shut up the noise in his own head. Dee didn't want Ryo that way, he wanted him willingly and he wanted him to love him. Dee needed Ryo to love him because there was no way Ryo was ever going to be just a notch on his bedpost. Ryo owned Dee's heart and soul and it was Dee that would be crushed if Ryo couldn't figure this out. Dee breathed out in frustration. Ryo left him in a place where he couldn't go back and he couldn't go forward. He did not want to be JJ or Rose chasing after what they could never have and should never have. He really didn't want to believe he could be as blind as either one of them. He really didn't think he was either, Ryo had his issues to sort out but you don't let someone get away with all he had if they weren't something you wanted too.

Dee took it apart again in his mind, all of Ryo's confusing signals and abrupt stops and right turns. Beyond the issue of his age and his fear of having to come out and admit he was gay there were still other issues. Ryo had been with women. It had never worked out and that was all Ryo had ever said on the matter. Ryo's aunt had shed some light on the matter when she had taken the two of them out to eat a few months ago. Bikky had had some sort of mishap in the kitchen so Ryo had excused himself from the table to take the call outside of the restaurant they were at not wanting to disturb others with what was sure to be a long phone call. Sitting there idly waiting for him to come back Ryo's aunt had turned the conversation to her concern that Ryo was going to wind up alone in life. She had rambled on, gentle and her voice low, about the girls Ryo had been with and how many of them had left him for other men. Ryo had always been a gentleman and always well mannered with each of them, too well mannered it would seem because quite a few of them had talked to his aunt either before or after the break up, apologizing and feeling badly, wanting reassurance Ryo would be okay. Ryo had a tendency to come off as a big brother to them rather than as a potential lover or husband. His aunt had never told him any of this and swore Dee to secrecy as well. Dee had readily agreed of course, keeping an eye out for Ryo's return. He knew why the woman was telling him this, so suddenly, so out of place over plates of pasta and wine. The woman knew. She probably knew before Ryo even began to suspect which way her nephew would fall on the spectrum. She knew and she was worried he was getting in his own way (which Dee firmly knew he was.)

She had lifted bright eyes to Dee, he could still clearly see the tilt of her head and the look she had pinned him with. He remembered it because it was the look of a mother who would gut him like a fish if he hurt her baby. The last thing she had said before Ryo made it all the way back to their table, winding through the close together tables and chairs, was a fierce whisper to Dee. "Do you know the worst of it is Dee? He actually seemed relieved each time it happened. Relieved to be dumped, don't you think that's sad Dee?" And then she had gone silent. By the time Ryo reached them it was like the conversation had never been as she turned a blinding smile up to Ryo as he apologized for taking so long and resettled himself at the table, kissing her cheek before sitting down.

Turning back into his memories Dee remembered how very little time he had actually spent bottoming, it wasn't the end all and be all of gay sex anyways, but sometimes it galled him how much the world made of the act, making it more important than the sum of the people involved. It didn't matter that hearts and souls, feelings and lives, were just as much a part of being a gay man (bi his mind immediately corrected for himself) as they were being straight. No, that got kicked off to some dusty old corner of mass neglect so people could narrow it down to one man putting his penis inside another. Like if that was all it was gay men couldn't have found a way around it at their local sex shop. It was one of the more blanket gay issues he did get angry about, not out loud, not where others could hear, but in his chest it caused a tight pinched feeling that he recognized as his temper being held in check. It wasn't gay men that needed to get around it, it was straight people and the pseudo ones that couldn't man up to what they really wanted that made it that way and turned an act of either pleasure or love into a twisted fetish.

There were two types of men that tried to be straight and failed that bothered Dee, one he hated because he arrested enough of those fuckers when they finally snapped and shoved their dick into some other male that hadn't really wanted to play the bitch in their heated fantasies. Logically he knew that while they were completely to blame for their actions but part of him still wanted society to take some sort of the burden because it was society that helped to create these bastards who couldn't get around the fact that they wanted to fuck another man so even as they were slapping cuffs on them and getting the other guy into an ambulance they would still be screaming how the other guy made them do it. Just like it was demons that made some of them press dirty cash into the hands of male hookers to get their rocks off and it was never ever their fault for those dirty, dirty, things they really wanted to do. Absolutely beyond any of them that the acts aren't dirty, the people are.

Dee draped an arm over his head, the other was his poor Ryo, his poor confused, struggling Ryo. Ryo was a damn good cop but would he have been a cop had his parents not died? The answer was no. He would have been a good person, doing good deeds in another way, while living in a world that might not have reinforced quite so hard the stereotype of a masculine man. It might have made a difference for him. Dee did not like being on bottom, either figuratively or literally. Oh sure if Ryo suddenly lost his mind and felt the need to jump his bones Dee would not complain, hell he'd even bend over for Ryo if he thought it would help Ryo along, but the truth was he liked being dominant which was one of the reasons he had spent very little of his youth with men who wanted to be on top.

Ryo's problem was he was not dominant in that way and never would be. It didn't make him less of a man or a person but Dee wasn't the one who needed to be convinced, Ryo was and Ryo had grown up in a world where being a non dominant male was a big damn no, no. Dee saw the irony in that only because of the women in his life, he did not know what women thought or how they got through all the crap life threw at them, but Dee knew for sure that things were not near as cut and dried as men tried to make it. Ryo did not realize that he had his own way of being dominant and though neither of them would admit it out loud where Ryo could hear them both him and Bikky knew damn well who ruled the roost in their strange little family. Ryo did. Just like Penguin did and just like Ryo's Aunt did and there in was the problem, Ryo was hung up on what a man was suppose to be instead of just being the person he was suppose to be and Dee was pretty sure it would not help to point out that Ryo's strength was most similar to the two women closest to them in their life.

Dee laughed as soon as he thought of it because if he put it that way to Ryo right after being massively offended Ryo would be falling all over himself to find a way to say that didn't mean he thought less of women or that women couldn't be strong, just that he didn't want to be seen as a woman. And that's where it ground out, Ryo didn't want to be the 'woman' in the relationship, the weaker partner or the receiving partner, the uke to Dee's seme, even though Dee didn't see him as either a woman or weak. It was kind of a shame really that Ryo and JJ weren't closer. They weren't the same personality wise but JJ was far more comfortable with himself than Ryo was and it wouldn't have hurt Ryo to have someone to talk to that knew even a little bit of what he felt. It was kinda funny if he thought about it because if Ryo thought he had it rough he should have seen what JJ had had to go through to be who he was. Unlike Ryo where people would sometimes wonder if he was or wasn't nobody ever seriously wondered about JJ. JJ couldn't blend in and Dee could remember how hard JJ had tried to blend and how hard it had been for him.

The amazing thing about the whole gay being a choice bullshit was that no one ever gave JJ a choice, no matter what he did his effeminate features and the inbuilt personality he couldn't quite cover stamped it on his forehead for the entire world to see. Those people carried their signs and their hate and demanded that people like JJ change from their wicked ways all the while the same sort of people pronounced his homosexuality on sight, often before he opened his mouth, and Dee knew they wouldn't have bought a damn word JJ might have said otherwise. That's because it wasn't a damn choice and any idiot that actually used all of his brain instead of donating half of it to spewing stupid shit about other people would know that if you can tell someone is gay just by looking at them, even if they were wearing your clothes and their hair just like yours, than it meant you knew it from something about them physically that they could not change. And if they couldn't change it then how could they have chosen? Morons. Dee had been there when JJ had had enough of trying to be what they demanded of him while denying it to him at the same time. It had been a wild time for the smaller man and Dee didn't blame him in the least for refusing to be less than who he was now.

JJ had had to fight to be who he was and he was damned if he was going to be ashamed of it now. Ryo could learn a little something from the little guy. Dee couldn't hold back the grin spreading across his face at the next evil thought that crossed his brain. He couldn't help it because one of the things Ryo could learn is that not everything is always as it seems. Dee knew what the guys at the precinct said about JJ behind his back. He knew they all assumed that JJ was a guaranteed bottom. Hell he even knew a few of them had been brave enough to admit that you know they wouldn't mind tapping that, if he had been a girl and all, even though to Dee that just translated to they really would like to tap that but were to chicken shit to try because he wasn't a girl. However, like most gay men Dee knew, JJ had a strong preference but nothing written in stone. In fact JJ had a nasty habit of leading men into bed, especially if they were bigger than him and made a big deal out of it, just so he could top them and he had no compunction about using things like alcohol to get what he wanted. Oh hell yeah Ryo could learn a thing or two from JJ, just not too much. Dee laughed quietly at some of the things only he and few others knew JJ had been up to.

"Dee?" Ryo's voice came over to him from the other bed. "You awake?" Dee slid eyes over into the darkness where Ryo was, he hadn't realized the other man was awake to.

"Yeah. I'm awake." He answered wondering if he had woken Ryo up. There was the sound of Ryo moving around on his bed, probably pulling himself up on his elbows, Ryo had a tendency to sleep on his stomach.

"I'm sorry." Ryo said quietly. Dee felt an eyebrow lift on his forehead. Sorry? He hadn't expected that from Ryo.

"I guess I'm sorry to." And he really was Dee realized. He knew Ryo was going to take it bad that he knew about him being in trouble at work.

"Don't be. " Dee rolled over towards Ryo's voice able to faintly see the outline of him on the bed. What was this all about he wondered.

"Don't be? You okay over there Ryo? "Instead of responding Ryo pushed his self upright and off the bed and came over to his bedside looming over Dee. Ryo lowered himself carefully to the bed and reaching out a hand to touch the side of Dee's face.

"Ryo? Are you okay?" Dee reached up to the hand on his face and took it in his own. This was definitely strange behavior for Ryo, maybe this case and that stupid haunted house were really getting to him. "Ryo?" He asked again concern coloring his voice.

"I'm okay. Sorry. Just got a lot on my mind is all and I can't sleep. Dee, can I ask a favor?" Ryo's voice drifted out the dark sounding lost and unsure.

"Sure, anything you want babe, you know that." Dee responded immediately. Ryo's fingers curled in his.

"Can I sleep with you tonight, you know, just sleep?" Ryo asked quietly, almost pleadingly. Dee blinked; Ryo could sleep with him every night as far as he was concerned. Dee slid over in the bed making room and opening up the covers for Ryo. Ryo climbed in and pressed against him immediately.

"Ryo are you sure you are okay? You're acting awfully strange. You're not sick are you?" Dee pressed more than a little alarmed at Ryo's behavior. Ryo shook his head no against Dee's chest.

"I'm fine Dee. I've just been thinking." He replied, his arm reaching out to wrap around Dee and keep him close.

"Oh, you worried about the case?" Dee asked, maybe he'd been up unable to sleep because he was still freaked out from earlier. Dee knew he was.

"Huh?" Ryo asked before his brain apparently made sense of the question. "Oh, no. Nothing like that Dee."

"What was it then?" Dee asked him quietly, sliding one arm around Ryo so that they were holding each other, his legs rubbing against and hooking over Ryo's.

"Us." Ryo said snuggling closer. Dee held his breath afraid to say anything else. Ryo could be cryptic at the worst damn times and that reply could be either good or bad when it came to Ryo. Before Dee could work up the nerve to say something either way Ryo continued on, his tone thoughtful and far away. "I think I've been driving myself crazy and trying to blame you for it. I don't want to talk about it right now, can't you just hold me?"

Dee held him tighter, that he could certainly do, yes sir. He dropped a very chaste kiss on top of Ryo's head. Whatever was in the man's head could be pried out later. The rain continued to pummel against the room, the room continued to be too cold, which was just right for snuggling under warm blankets and even better for snuggling with a warm body against his own, so that's just what Dee did.


	11. Laughter in the Rain

Authors Notes: Thank you for reading! I apologize, again, for another late update. We had a bout of illness run through my family starting with me so I've lost a lot of time to being sick or taking care of others who were sick. This is a short chapter but it is really where the story starts to come to fruition so please, I hope you'll bear with me.

SewingLifeAlchemist: It always does a writer good to know that someone is actively looking forward to the next part of a story. I am so sorry for making you wait and I hope the wait was worth it (certainly the next chapter after this one should be!) You were the catalyst for getting me to get back to work and I thank you for that.

Angelstars: ^___^ I need to reply to you and I will but I wanted to let you know that your review of the last chapter really made me feel like I was doing something right and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story as much as you enjoyed the last chapter.

Na-Na1026: I'm glad you liked the last chapter, I hope Ryo's as adorable in his chapter as you find Dee. Sorry for the late update I'll try to be better.

IttyBittyKitty: Thank you! Glad you found the last chapter of Dee cute, I hope you enjoy this chapter which is Ryo's side of the equation.

Thanks to everyone who has recently added me to their alert and/or favorite list, I appreciate it and I hope I don't let you down.

With this chapter (finally) the story starts to get to where I want it to be and Ryo is now on The Verge of Something Wonderful. ________________________________________________________________________________

Ryo lay tangled up in Dee's arms dozing in and out of sleep, waking to hear the rain still going on and sliding back under with the sound still in his ears. Let it rain he thought. Let it rain and keep me here in this little world just a little bit longer. I'm tired of waking up alone and tired of worrying about what I should feel and how I should behave. Let the rain come down a bit longer and keep the real world out of reach. In his sleep his dreams slid by, nonsensical and fuzzy, things half remembered, bright bursts of colors, events and people he had never met yet still seemed familiar. It all came and went with his light sleep, the comfort of Dee's body and the constant rain lulling him and easing his mind.

It wasn't until the grey of dawn had given way to an even greyer morning that either of the two men really bothered to move around but it was like an unspoken agreement had been reached between them. Yesterday had been hell, it was down pouring, and they weren't working today. Ryo slipped out while Dee was in the shower to get them both some coffee and make sure they could re-rent the hotel room for the rest of the day and night. At the front counter the keys to their rental car waited for him with a short note from Ellen that she had a friend follow her up so she could drop it off and that she was heading back to the house to see about the disaster in the bathroom. Ryo took the keys and slid them into his pocket, making a mental note to call her later, before heading back to their room.

Dee was out of the bathroom when he got back and already back in his sweat pants for the day. Ryo couldn't blame him; he had every intention of spending the day in his own sweatpants and t-shirt. Ryo handed over a cup of coffee and a few muffins from the breakfast bar to Dee before carefully climbing back in the same bed with him. "Good morning." He offered as he settled back against the pillows and headboard of the bed.

"Good morning to you too, thanks for the coffee." Dee replied as he held his cup steady over the bed's movements. Once Ryo had settled Dee scooted into place beside him and for a while they simply sat in comfortable silence listening to the rain.

Ryo sipped at his coffee, slow and steady, trying to think of where to go from here. What to do when you find you've put yourself in a position where you can't go back but you are still trembling inside at the thought of going forward? Ryo had spent a long night just full of the type of realizations he either wished he wouldn't have had at all or wished they had come sooner. Particularly the realization that he was not doing right by Dee and Dee deserved better or at least a resolution.

The coffee was waking his mind up but was doing an absolutely tap dance on his emotions. He should have had a very nice and soothing cup of chamomile instead, something to calm his nerves, not rile them up more. It had seemed reasonable to blame Dee for the state of his life because Dee started everything between them in the first place, Dee kept everything going, and Dee was the fire that was always nipping at his heels. And that knowledge had gotten Ryo through everything he had or had not done when it came to Dee and his red hot pursuit. Ryo had simply taken no responsibility for anything because he had convinced himself that since Dee had started it, started everything, that he was not responsible for anything. It was rather unfortunate and sorry state of affairs that his brain had finally kicked in and informed him otherwise.

He could have said no to Dee, he could have not let him kiss him and responded…Christ. He could have firmly stood his ground, pushed him away, and...Ryo's shoulders slumped... and he could have done any of the things a person would do if they were being pursued and did not want it. He could have asked for a transfer from the 27th, asked for a new partner, demanded a new partner more like it, or even threatened sexual harassment charges.

But he hadn't. Had he?

Instead he had asked Dee to kiss him again so he could compare it to Berkley Rose's kiss, something he doubted very few straight men, no matter how accepting of homosexuality, would have done. He had taken care of Dee when Dee was sick and had convinced his self that that was what all good partners would do for their partner. That wasn't true, other partners went home to their significant others or whatever consisted of their lives, maybe they would have dropped by and wished them well before heading out to the game or to the bar or to pick up their dry cleaning. They would not have spent the night with the other person's head in their lap, petting their hair. That is what a lover or a spouse would do not a 'work partner'.

And Dee, Ryo's jaw tightened, he couldn't believe he let himself be so ridiculously, even immaturely, deliberately blind; Dee had taken care of him too, Dee had done things for him that were clearly the signs of a committed and practically married man. Ryo had glossed it over the same way he had glossed over his own behavior, writing it all off as 'good partners' or even worse, an attempt on Dee's part to worm his way into Ryo's pants. Just exactly how fabulous did he think he was that Dee would do all he had done just for a toss in the sheets?

Ryo really didn't want to answer his own question. Dee was in love him. Ryo had never been surer of anything in his life than he was of this fact and he was an idiot for not seeing it sooner. An idiot that had taken unfair emotional advantage of the other man and could only begin to excuse himself for his actions by admitting he had been too stupid to see the truth. And too afraid. He had to admit the afraid apart too which made him feel not only dumb but a coward as well.

Something must have shown on his face, slipped through and attracted Dee's attention, because Dee's warm fingers had suddenly come up to grip Ryo's hand and cup, steadying it before he was pulled into an embrace, snug against the other man's chest. Fortunately Dee didn't say anything, he just held him and for that Ryo was grateful. He had no idea what he wanted to say to Dee. Did he want to apologize for not realizing things sooner? Confess his own feelings and ask for forgiveness for being so blind? He really didn't know. So instead he breathed out slowly and eased himself into Dee's hold, letting Dee pry the cup from him and set it down out of harm's way. His eyes drifted down and noticed the fine drops of coffee on the bed spread and he realized his fingers were trembling. Ah, so that was it, Dee would notice him spilling coffee all over everything.

Dee nuzzled the side of his head, his breath warm against the skin and in his hair. Ryo smiled. For such a loud and aggressive man Dee could be so earnest and sweet sometimes. It felt good to just be beside him like this, warm and safe. Dee had learned when to pull a punch with Ryo, when not to push. One never knew what the next hour would bring, he could find his back against the wall and Dee's tongue in his mouth again, but for now he knew he was in good hands that only wanted to comfort him. Dee planted a soft, chaste kiss on his forehead and they both settled back to listen to the rain and snuggle in bed.

The sleep that had evaded both the men during the night caught up with them in the soft grayness, pulling them into light slumbers and shared warmth. They didn't so much sleep the day away as glide through it loosing patches of time to daydreams and half lidded eyes. It was well into the afternoon before any real desire to stir came to either of them and even then it was more the persistent grumbles of hungry bellies that got either man to move than it was a real desire to get up and do anything.

Well to be perfectly honest, it was Dee's loudly complaining empty stomach that caused the break in the quiet tranquility. Dee was currently cursing said stomach verbally and Ryo was quietly laughing at him affectionately. Ryo had previously been asleep and woke up to find that at some point Dee had settled his head on his chest and had snaked his arm up Ryo's tummy, which Dee had been contentedly petting for quite some time while listening to Ryo's heartbeat. Since Dee's hand had stayed above his waist line and the caresses were quite soothing Ryo hadn't done anything about it and let his self continue to slide between being awake and asleep. Until Dee's always ravenous appetite had made itself known, grumbling against Ryo's side and thigh and eventually waking Ryo up so he could listen to Dee whisper vehemently to his stomach to can it already.

Ryo couldn't keep himself from giggling which immediately brought Dee's head up and those intense green eyes of his to focus on him. Ryo smiled impishly unable to resist teasing Dee a little.

"Maybe he's just jealous that you're giving so much attention to my stomach instead of feeding him." He told Dee unable to hold back his laughter. Dee gave him a wicked grin, his eyes sliding into slits. Ryo knew he was in trouble when he felt Dee's arm tighten around him as Dee pulled his body to lie on top of Ryo pinning him to the bed.

"Oh is that so? Jealous is he?" Dee asked, all sugary and sweet before his other arm crept up and started tickling Ryo along his ribcage and the side of his stomach. Ryo squealed and tried to break free attacking back as best he could but Dee was not nearly as ticklish as Ryo was and he had the distinct advantage of being a dirty fighter. When Ryo tried to get him off his side and ribcage Dee went for his armpits and Ryo moved to end that torment he used the opening to go for the soft skin of his belly, then when Ryo tried to twist away from that he used his weight to pin Ryo on his side while going for his back and then the underside of his knees. Ryo was hopelessly wriggling mess of limbs beneath him and soon out of breath and flushed from shrieking and laughing, it wasn't until he started to cough that Dee pulled back and let Ryo catch his breath.

Happy with his self Dee flopped back down on the now thoroughly unmade bed. Ryo had barely gotten his breathing back under control when Dee's stomach grumbled loudly again. Dee rolled over on his side and looked at Ryo and with a completely deadpanned face said "Look what you made me do, working up an appetite like that, I guess you're going to have to take me out to dinner to make up for it."

Ryo fanned himself trying to cool down his overheated face but still managed to roll his eyes at his irrepressible partner before responding. "Oh I am, am I?"

Dee nodded at him earnestly in response. "Yes, you are. It's in the rules."

"And what rules would these be, the ones you just make up as you go along?" Ryo asked wryly.

"Oh, yes, of course, those rules. My rules are the best rules to live by after all." Dee replied with another sage nod of his head.

"They are? And why is that?" Ryo asked, his voice full of amusement, knowing how it would end.

"Because that way I always win!" Dee chirped his eyes full of mischief and glee. It was this face that would always do Ryo in, not that Dee needed to know that, but this face that was so open and full of life and belied the cynical man that Dee should by all accounts be. This bright winsome smile, these light and life filled eyes, it was no wonder to Ryo at all that Dee's Mother had such a soft spot for the boy he had been and had believed him no matter how far off course Dee had gotten as a teenager. You could forgive nearly anything to see that smile. Ryo smiled at him caught up in the infectious love of life that Dee had and so easily shared.

"Come on Dee; let's go find something to eat, the sooner we do the sooner we can get back to bed." Ryo told him, his hand coming out to gently touch and smooth over the skin of Dee's cheek. Dee's eyes went wide and Ryo gave him a different, softer smile. He knew Dee was trying to figure out what Ryo meant by that comment but having been rebuffed so many times wasn't confident to think it meant what wanted it to mean. To be honest Ryo wasn't sure how much he meant by the comment either and a little thrill went through him of how the night could go. He wasn't sure he was ready for Dee to jump on him and try to go 'all the way' but he was sure he wouldn't regret letting Dee try to convince him.


	12. Beer Hops and Ryo Leaps

Dinner wound up being subs from a place inside of a convenience store not too far from their hotel. They were actually quite large sandwiches and weren't too shabby at all. The good part about this is they were gone from their hotel room for only about thirty minutes before trudging back in out of the wet weather with not only subs but chips and beer as well. Ryo really rather thought he deserved a few beers after all this trip had put him through and put up only a token resistance to the idea. Dee being Dee read it correctly and picked up not only his preferred beer of choice but also one he knew Ryo liked as well. Ryo didn't say another word and happily slipped his credit card through the slot to pay for it all.

Cold beer and subs, nothing to complain about there, Ryo wouldn't even complain if Dee managed to find some sporting invent to watch on the television. Dee fussing over sports while they both shared a beer was about as close to normal as normal got and Ryo felt he deserved the normal as much as he did the beer. He drew the line at paying for Dee's cigarettes though because he was not so subtly trying to get the other man to quit. Dee snagged them anyway, along with a bunch of candy bars, and paid for them his self. Ryo just sighed and pushed on out of store ahead of him with his arms full of bags.

Back in their room and settled back into one shared bed it looked like a picnic basket full of junk food had exploded all over the room. Dee was eating a sub that looked like he had requested every type of cold cut meat they had on it and was licking fingers slick with oil and vinegar dressing. Ryo watched him eat, a smile on his face, Dee and Bikky ate the exact same way they lived, full tilt and with gusto. It should have looked disgusting to watch someone wolf down that much food but all Ryo could think of was how much vitality Dee gave off, like he was so full of life that if you were running low he could somehow just gift some over to you.

The other thought floating around in his head was Dee's fingers were extremely long and if he continued to lick and suck on them like he was Ryo's insides were going to be tied permanently into an uncomfortable knot. He might not have been able to fully see himself having sex with another man, but it wasn't stopping his body from reacting to the sight of Dee molesting his fingers with his tongue and mouth. Ryo quelled the urge to lick them himself by sipping more beer and taking another bite of his own tuna sub. And looking away, quickly, which Dee noticed but didn't say anything, however when Ryo looked back it was just in time to see Dee lick his middle and index finger from his palm all the way up to their tips before sucking on the ends of them. Ryo choked on his beer and Dee gave him a very cat like satisfied smile.

Dee one, Ryo zero. Ryo coughed and spluttered before he regained his breath and composure enough to glare at Dee. "Problem there partner?" Dee asked with absolutely no trace of innocence whatsoever. Ryo pulled the back of his hand across his mouth to wipe away spilt beer and narrowed his eyes at his 'partner'. In response Dee bit off another piece of his sandwich and took a deep gulp of beer and chewed happily, not a care in the world. Ryo gave him a patented eye roll and turned his attention back to his own tuna sub. Jackass. Incredibly attractive, intelligent, and wonderful but definitely still a jackass.

Dee found things to watch on TV, predictably dealing with sports, Ryo found time to clean up the huge mess Dee was making all over the bed they were on, Dee cursed and fumed at people who couldn't hear him and didn't care, and Ryo worked on a Sudoku puzzle. Were it not a hotel room on the wrong end of the east coast they could have been at home Ryo thought to himself as he struggled to figure out the placement of a nine in the grid he was working on. He grabbed a hold of the thought and dragged it back into his mind before it could finish flitting off. He looked at Dee over the rim of his reading glasses, really looked at him, how at ease he was sprawled out beside Ryo on the bed, all long legs and lean mass, the heat of his body close enough for Ryo to feel.

The sense that Dee felt like home settled onto Ryo, calm and sure. They could have been anywhere but as long as they were together it would feel just like this. The only things missing were Bikky and Carol, but they filled different parts of Ryo, equally as important to be sure, but not the same as this piece. This piece belonged all to Dee, a piece that said Ryo would feel empty if Dee wasn't there to be too loud to balance out his quiet and to be the other part of a half that makes a whole.

A rush of emotion, thick and deep, pooled over Ryo, the rest of the dam within him coming down and for a moment he couldn't even breathe. He stared at Dee helplessly while Dee cheered someone on TV, pumping his fist in the air, completely oblivious to what was pouring through Ryo. The grey light from the evening sky spilled through the window and played in Dee's hair, a delicate lighting of the planes of his face, animating one eye while casting the other eye into shadow. He was beautiful in this light, so handsome, Ryo admitted to himself and then admitted that Dee would look equally devastating in any light simply because he was Dee and Dee had brought Ryo back home again.

Ryo hadn't felt like he belonged anywhere, to anyone, since the death of his parents. All the while he had been fighting against a physical attraction to Dee and worrying about his heart being hurt, his broken pride being trampled on, and the entire time Dee had been steadily making his way in to snuggle right up against Ryo's soul. And now he knew that he'd been guarding the wrong doors all along and he was so damn lucky that he had been.

Ryo pulled his glasses off and set them aside with his book and pen. He smiled at Dee's contagious enthusiasm almost sorry to interrupt the happily entertained man. Ryo cleared his throat to get his attention. "Hey Dee, I'm going to go grab a shower, all right?" He asked when Dee turned to meet his eyes.

Dee nodded. "Yeah, sure. That's the great thing about hotels huh? Endless hot water!" His attention then twisted back to the game. Ryo, clean freak, shower, got it and he was back to watching the next play. Ryo laughed under his breath. It was such a comfy acknowledgment, so much like they were sitting in Ryo's apartment eating Chinese takeout while Dee and Bikky cheered on the home team. He was filled with the contented security of being with loved ones and family, the feelings that make a home more than just an address on a map.

Once he was in the shower Ryo leaned against the shower wall and let the warm water spray down on him. He was happy and nervous, the shower was just his way of gaining the space to let himself feel just how much he loved Dee without a pair of overly piercing green eyes picking through his own. He wondered if Dee knew he loved him and if he did, did he know all along, is that why he held on? Or maybe it was just in Dee's nature to hope for the best no matter how much the odds were stacked against him.

The water sluiced over his skin washing away the day, taking the edge off his nerves. He picked up the soap and started to carefully clean his body, nerves or not he couldn't hide in here all night long and he didn't want to in the first place. He wanted to get over the jack knifing in his stomach that was trying to edge out the bliss he felt in his chest. He wanted to be with Dee, let him know that he returned his feeling, that he had finally quit running, and he wanted to do it as soon as possible. He didn't think he could bear to wait until they got back to New York and he definitely did not want to have this conversation in that abominable hell house they were investigating. Having things randomly thrown at you while in the midst of romantically confessing to your true love was not something he intended to have on the agenda.

No, it needed to be done tonight. Ryo bit his bottom lip. He hoped. That is if his nerves didn't get the better of him first. He moved on from one step to the next, washing hair, shaving again, overkill from him but he couldn't help it, and brushing his teeth and gargling with mouthwash. Dee wouldn't care he as sure but tuna and onions did not speak to the romantic in Ryo whatsoever. Funny though, he realized he didn't care if Dee tasted like his oil and vinegar giant meat sandwich or not, wouldn't care if it was all overshadowed with the tang of his last cigarette smoke. It would be all Dee and all Dee was more than enough for Ryo.

Shower done a very nervous Ryo slipped back into the room and onto the bed they had not been having a huge feast on. Dee had slipped out earlier, hollering through the bathroom door that he was going to go down to the lobby and have a smoke and would be back in a minute. That had given Ryo a chance to give the room a critical once over and snag himself another beer out of the mini fridge. He had had a light buzz going earlier but the shower had mostly dispelled it. Ryo held the brown bottle in his hands and contemplated whether he wanted to drink it or not. He definitely did not want to be drunk when he talked to Dee but he wasn't sure he wanted to be hundred percent sober either.

False courage he whispered to himself but still twisted the top of the bottle and took a few deep sips. He promised himself to drink only enough to keep the edge down on his poor abused nerves so that he wouldn't embarrass himself in front of Dee. Just enough to get back the buzz from earlier and no more and after giving himself all the right assurances the gold liquid slipped a little easier down his throat.

When Dee returned from the lobby he was splattered with muddy water and looked like a very tall half drowned rat. The pissed off look on his face didn't help much either. Ryo raised an eyebrow in question. Dee snorted. "Some asshole can't wait for a lady with a baby in her arms and a toddler by her leg to get all the way out of the road. Asshole. He's lucky I'm not a cop down here or I'd have arrested his ass."

Ryo's eyes widened. "Everybody okay Dee?"

"Yeah, I managed to snag the little guy out the way but that dude's real damn lucky I was standing there smoking when he pulled that stunt. Gunned his engine at the woman when she was halfway across the front entrance, the kid freaked and ran the wrong damn way, I don't know who was more scared me or the mother. I really should have beaten the shit out of that guy. " Dee said with disgust. "I got to go grab a shower man, I feel gross and I'm not sure but I think the kid might have peed on me as well as getting sprayed with puddle water. Guh."

Dee stomped off into the shower hollering over his shoulder that he was going to borrow Ryo's discarded sweatpants from earlier. Ryo curled up his silk pajama clad legs and took a much bigger swallow of his beer. It was going to be a hell of a night.

Dee returned to find Ryo still sitting in bed, hugging a bottle to his chest and staring at him wide eyed. It made him wonder momentarily if he suddenly had a horn sticking out of his forehead or, Dee eyed the bottle, if Ryo had had quite enough to drink. Ryo had in fact managed to get through two bottles during Dee's short shower and was now clinging to his third and looked like he was prepared to fight for it if necessary. Dee found this to be 'interesting' behavior on Ryo's part. Dee moved to crawl onto the bed with him only to be stopped by Ryo asking him if wasn't going to have something to drink too. Dee thought about this carefully and decided the right answer should be yes, yes he was. He scooted off the bed and came back with a beer in his hand, even more interesting was the way Ryo seemed relieved that he wasn't the only one drinking anymore.

Interesting indeed. Dee pulled out his detective skills and started asking questions. Had Bikky called in? Yes, everything was fine. Had the Chief called in? Ryo didn't answer immediately and looked more flustered. Dee pressed the subject gently only to find out that Ryo had let the call ring through to voice mail. Hmmmmmmmm, what had the Chief wanted? Oh to ask about the house and you know… stuff. Ryo found the bedspread immensely fascinating as he explained the message particularly the 'stuff'. Curious and curiouser.

Dee grabbed the remote off the other bed and climbed in beside Ryo cautiously. Sure they had spent all day and all night cuddling but Ryo could be weird at the strangest times and had a tendency to bolt whenever things got either to comfortable or to uncomfortable, heat wise, between him and Dee. Best to proceed with caution and not give the other man a reason to flee. Ryo only watched him with hazy eyes as settled down under the covers.

Dee eyed him carefully trying to size him up. Ryo just stared back. Okayyyyyyyyy. Dee broke the mounting silence, testing the waters. "You want to watch a movie? I remember seeing a commercial for some sort of cop movie coming on tonight." Ryo gave him a quick smile and nodded yes emphatically, like Dee was all sorts of awesome and his salvation for coming up with the idea. Dee mentally decided that he needed to pry Ryo's drink from his hand the first chance he got while flipping through the channels to find the movie in question.

It was a made for TV movie involving two detectives tracking a supernatural killer. It was quite a good movie, Dee would have normally given it a B+ if it weren't for the fact that between the outside storm and their previous experiences both men were way more rattled than they should have been by the spookier elements of the show. By the time the movie ended they were practically in each other's laps. They had quit drinking but Dee didn't know when Ryo had stopped and he had had more than a few his self. Enough that stumbling to the bathroom to relieve his self took on comic elements of trying to keep his feet steady on a floor that felt somewhat wobbly despite his brain knowing that he was the unstable one.

If he thought he had a hard time of it Ryo was another beast all together. He managed to get himself up right just long enough to lurch over and into the wall, hands shooting out to steady himself from there. He slid to the bathroom using the wall to pull his self along. Dee wasn't sure if he wasn't too much of a danger to be attempting this feat all on his own.

He was fighting dozing off. He couldn't believe he was tired after all the sleeping they had done but he figured it was the beer catching up with him making him drowsy. So he laid on the bed listening out for Ryo, wanting to make sure he was all right, wasn't too drunk, and would make it back to bed on his own. The darkened room swam in and out of focus, the flashes of lightening, the rumbles, came and went with his conscience. Dimly he registered that Ryo had climbed back into the shower, yet again, and he tried to figure out if that was a good or a bad thing but his brain just wasn't able to put out the effort. The room slipped away from him again and he was lost to sleep.

The next time he came too it was because he felt someone leaning over him. Opening bleary unfocused eyes he stared up into a darkened outline that could only be Ryo. He was all too aware that Ryo was pressed down onto him, hips against hips, legs tucked around and in between legs, all the way up his body until Ryo's elbow tucked under his arm and lifted their chests and upper body apart. The warmth and solidity, the nearness, took his breath away.

"Ryo?" He whispered up to the man above him. He was on very unsure ground here and was afraid to reach out and touch. He went from pleasant confusion to downright scandalized shock when instead of answering the body above him lowered itself the rest of the way onto him and warm lips pressed against his neck.

"Your skin is so warm, I knew it would be." Ryo murmured against him, a vibration of husky voice and lips against sensitized flesh. Ryo kissed up his neck to his ear, the tip of his tongue coming out to lick the indention behind the ear lobe. Dee all but forgot how to breathe at that point, was this his timid Ryo doing these insanely sensual, hot things to him? Was he drunk? Should he stop him before things got out of hand and there were regrets and hurt feelings in the morning.

Dee shifted and moved to dislodge Ryo but was stopped by a firm hand pushing him back down into the bed. "I know what you're thinking, that I've had too much to drink. Don't. I haven't." Ryo told him before attacking his jaw line with soft little nips.

Dee relaxed into the mattress, uncoiling tense muscles, and sighed in pleasure. He couldn't quite make sense of what was happening but he wasn't going to do anything to spoil it either. He had always assumed that he would be the one doing this sort of seduction to Ryo, at least at first, and his brain was still a little bit mussed over by the alcohol, but he couldn't deny that it felt good.

Maybe that's what needed to happen all along; maybe Ryo needed it to be this way. Dee didn't care; it felt too good to worry about anyway. He felt both aroused and safe at the same time, not something he was used too but extremely pleasant none the less. His body was so hot, pinned beneath Ryo's weight, and it felt so good to feel his own erection trapped between their bodies, Ryo's pressing back against him, the sharpness of hip bones dulled through their clothing but still imprinting into each other's bodies.

In the darkness Dee let go…

(To be continued. Very, very, very soon. I promise. )


	13. Ryo's Unchained Love

Author's note: Do not ever jinx yourself by saying you will update very soon. Between my children being on spring break, a few mischievous cats, and a lot of bad luck I thought I'd never get this out. This is a two part, as you'll see when you are reading, and I swear I'm working on it as we speak. I'm so, very sorry for the delay. Normally I use this spot to reply to all my reviews that I can't answer directly. I'll do that next time but always know I deeply appreciate everyone who reads and everyone who comments, adds me to their favorites and alerts. I had to rebuild this from scratch after a mishap with the computer so I don't want to delay it any longer. Please forgive typos. It was very hurriedly beta'ed.

On to the fic:

Previously:

Maybe that's what needed to happen all along; maybe Ryo needed it to be this way. Dee didn't care; it felt too good to worry about anyway. He felt both aroused and safe at the same time, not something he was used too but extremely pleasant none the less. His body was so hot, pinned beneath Ryo's weight, and it felt so good to feel his own erection trapped between their bodies, Ryo's pressing back against him, the sharpness of hip bones dulled through their clothing but still imprinting into each other's bodies.

In the darkness Dee let go… he gave control over to Ryo and let him take him where ever he wanted to go. It was a position he rarely let himself be, even when other lovers had taken the lead he had allowed it for only so long before snatching back the control, one way or the other. Even if it meant topping from the bottom, he was always so driven, engine always running, foot always on the gas. He liked receiving pleasure but he got a huge rush out of being the one that made his lovers tremble and gasp.

But this was Ryo. It was almost too much to take in at one time and several of his fuses were long since blown by the things he was doing to Dee's body. Ryo touched him like he was trying to absorb Dee's essence right through his skin, lips and hands caressing him firmly. Ryo's gun calloused fingers and palms pushing and sliding against the muscles of his abdomen dragging heat to his groin, Ryo's mouth on his neck, Ryo's firm tongue trailing after a bead sweat chasing it from his throat to just past his sternum.

And Ryo was talking, the quiet, man of few words Ryo, was talking to him every time his mouth wasn't otherwise occupied, whispered heated breathes puffed against his skin telling him how very, very good he tasted to him, how his bones and muscles felt under the pressure of his hands. Dee felt like the molten words were themselves licking at his arousal, pulling it higher. Dee had no idea how Ryo had treated his previous lovers but he was absolutely sure it was not like this because if it had been none of them would have ever let him go.

Any time he tried to raise his hands up to touch the god above him Ryo would gently but firmly take them back down, placing the long fingers into the blankets and sheets and holding them there until Dee stopped. It was maddening but effective because Dee was absolutely breathless for Ryo to continue what he was doing. He had tied up and been tied up during the act of sex, he thought he knew all about being restrained and what it did and did not do for sex, Ryo was absolutely proving him wrong on all accounts. Those experiences had been tinged with doing something naughty and little mind fucks about control, this however was a damn near spiritual experience and he couldn't even begin to place them in the same boat.

He'd given over control freely and Ryo was in control of the situation but he wasn't dominating Dee as much as he was refusing to let Dee take away from him worshipping Dee's body with an arousal driven by love and affection as much as desire. So Dee breathed deep and tried not to drown while his unrestrained hands fidgeted and twisted the fabric beneath them and let Ryo have his moment, even if it killed him to hold himself back.

When Ryo's hands finally hooked the clothes at his waist and pulled them off Dee helped to yank his legs free of the troublesome cloth and sighed at the feeling of cool air against his erection and legs. He heard Ryo's pajama pants as the fabric collapsed on itself when Ryo stepped out of them causing Dee's mind to buckle just a little bit more. He had to clench the bedding tightly in his fists to keep from grabbing at Ryo and he knew he was white knuckled with the force he was using as Ryo's body settled back down along the length of his, naked flesh to flesh all the way, for the first time ever. Ryo kissed at his mouth, tugging gently on his bottom lip with his teeth to let Dee know he wanted in. Dee opened up for him and moaned like a creature possessed when Ryo licked into him, sliding his tongue against his own.

Ryo eventually shifted to Dee's side, pressing his own erection into Dee's hip and pulling the adjoined leg in between his own. He slipped an arm under Dee's neck and trapped his head in place while pinning Dee's arm under his own weight. He continued to lick, suck and thrust his way into Dee's mouth, his free hand moving in lazy circles over his chest and belly, scratching around his belly button and sweeping down to the nest of curls around his cock, teasing him and swallowing all of Dee's whimpers and groans. He pulled at dark hair there gently smiling against Dee's mouth when his hips curled up at the sensation before dropping his hand lower to cup his balls and roll them in his palm and fingers, exerting pressure against them in brief spurts. Dee's hips flexed minutely with the movements and his breath shortened to tight quick in draws of air.

He subsided from his mouth to Dee's ear kissing his way there while his hand curled around the heavy erection above the curls and stroked upward firmly, his thumb coming across the tip and swirling the beads of thick liquid there into the head. He kissed and nibbled on his ear while he slowly pumped Dee, slow, than faster, than slow again, all the while licking the shell of cartilage that made up his ear, or sucking on his ear lobe, swiping his tongue into the crevices, driving Dee to the edge and when he got him there Ryo tightened his grip and fisted his cock in hard sharp strokes.

Dee was panting and sweating beneath him, his stomach muscles trembling and his eyes scrunched tightly shut. He knew he wasn't far from coming, the tension in his belly was so, so good, promising such a wonderful release. It was then, when he was so close, when he couldn't stand anymore, that Ryo whispered, his breath hot against the wet skin of his thoroughly licked and kissed ear, to Dee.

"I love you Dee Laytner, more than anything, I'm sorry I made you wait for me for so long." He murmured his voice low and husky. Dee's heart slammed against his ribs but he couldn't say anything back, couldn't do the long planned and awaited pounce he had so often envisioned in his mind because he was coming then, eyes blinded, thought stilled and trapped around Ryo's confession and his whole body caught in an arch as it ripped through him.

When it was over his body relaxed into Ryo's hold, his hips finally coming to rest underneath the hand still wrapped around his diminishing erection, his seed hot against his own belly. He grabbed for Ryo's face then, twisting into his embrace and bringing his hand up to bury in Ryo's thick hair. He kissed Ryo, hard and ground against the other man's erection still buried against his side.

"Jesus, Ryo." Dee managed to get out around a throat still thick with emotions and release. "Holy hell, the things you do to me. God, I love you, I love you so damn much."

Ryo smiled at him and kissed the end of his nose. "I know. I'm sorry I didn't figure it out sooner."

"Quit apologizing, dude. I'm the luckiest bastard alive and I know it." Dee told him before pushing Ryo onto his back and crawling on top of him. "In fact, I'm so damn lucky I should properly thank you by showing you my absolute gratitude." Dee said in a tone that left absolutely no doubt as to how his absolute gratitude would be shown.

Ryo arched an eyebrow at him. "Oh? Is that so?"

"Oh yes Mr. MacLean that is so. " Dee responded as leaned over and pressed a kiss against Ryo's neck right below his jaw, licking at the sweat he found there before pulling the tender skin in between his teeth to worry and suck on, determined to leave an absolutely unmistakable love mark on Ryo's neck that the normally reserved man couldn't hide it. Ryo's breath immediately hitched and his hands came up to press on Dee's chest.

Dee pulled them down to Ryo's sides and tsked at him. "Now, now, we will have none of that, fair is fair." Ryo squirmed trying to free his wrists but Dee held tight and locked Ryo's body under his with his knees and legs. "You best behave young man or I'll have to get my handcuffs out and restrain you." He teased but with enough darkness in his voice to let Ryo know he was serious. He made a noise of satisfaction when Ryo's cock twitched beneath him in response, Dee pressed his hips back in kind and got to hear the most beautiful sound he had ever heard, Ryo moaning deep in his throat and chest.

Dee's smile was so wide it hurt his face. He couldn't remember ever feeling a joy this strong and it was made all the better by the healthy dose of lust streaking through it. He'd make his Ryo feel so good and so loved he'd never doubt Dee's heart or for letting himself, finally, give into what they both wanted. This he solemnly swore to himself in his own mind but it was with his lips and hands that he started to swear it to Ryo.


	14. Break Me Shake Me Take Me Over

Previously: He'd make his Ryo feel so good and so loved he'd never doubt Dee's heart or for letting himself, finally, give into what they both wanted. This he solemnly swore to himself in his own mind but it was with his lips and hands that he started to swear it to Ryo.

Now:

Ryo knew Dee was a good kisser, no scratch that, Dee was an excellent kisser. It would naturally lead one to believe that Dee would be a good lover; taking it from abstract thought to reality left that vague idea burnt up in metaphorical ash on the side of the road as it tore on by into the realms of fantastical.

If you put two detectives in bed together both of them are going to bring all their previously gleaned information of their partner into that bed with them. Ryo had been less sure of his self, reasonably, but had applied himself to the task at hand admirably. He had touched Dee in a manner that he was fairly certain Dee would appreciate and had focused on pouring all his love and adoration into what he was doing. He could acquit the field with his head held reasonably high that he had done well. He knew Dee was more experienced at this sort of thing than he was and he knew Dee knew it all too well himself.

He had no idea how big the gap between them experience wise actually was until Dee had him under him and reducing him to a moaning, twisting, damn near sobbing mess. Holy f-uucccccccckkkkk the curse word stuttered through his mind as he gasped in air after Dee had finally left up off the flesh just inside his right hip bone and released it from between his teeth. How the hell did he know that spot was so sensitive? Dee's mouth was now above his navel, drawing circles languidly with his tongue as if he had not just made all of Ryo's nerves tighten up and scream a moment ago. It wasn't until he heard the self satisfied sound Dee made that he realized he had cursed out loud as well.

Ryo made a mental note to file that spot away for future retaliation, he was pretty sure he would be able to locate it because he was going to be sporting one hell of love mark on his own body at its location and he was going to return the favor. But then Dee was at his thighs, his sharp hard fingers, digging into the nerves in the back of his knees and his mouth grazing along the inner part of his leg. Ryo's thought processes immediately quivered along with his body. He didn't offer any resistance whatsoever when Dee pulled his legs open a little wider and made his self comfortable between them.

Dee gently licked into the crevice where Ryo's leg and groin joined his body drawing his tongue downward and into the muscles of his ass. It made Ryo want to squirm but he didn't know which way, away from those awful skittering sensations, or closer to make them more intense so they fed more into the tight, overwhelming coiling in his belly. He was sweaty, sticky and hot, he could feel his hair plastered to his brow and the side of face and the trickles of perspiration on his throat and the dampness of the nape of his neck against the pillow.

Ryo felt overwhelming out of control of his own body and actions, laid bare beneath an aggressive and dominant Dee, it was everything he had ever been unafraid of or uncomfortable with and yet here he was swept along in the crashing currents that were Dee. It was unbearable to feel his composure so quickly ripped away, to be so exposed and so carnal. But Dee kept at it, kept at him, and drove him further refusing to let Ryo think too much or too hard on what their bodies were doing. He was physically pushing Ryo past his mental and emotional barriers not letting him slide back into himself and away from fully experiencing what was happening to him.

It was terribly wonderful. There were tears stinging the corners of Ryo's eyes and he prayed the darkness kept them hidden from his lover's gaze. Some of them were of frustration, some of them were of shame, but some of them were of relief. Trust Dee to know that he could not just go quietly into that good night and enjoy himself and therefore take it upon himself to push Ryo past his self inflicted hang-ups. Ryo knew he was breaking him in some way but he was honest enough to admit that maybe he needed to be broken.

Dee licked up the pre-cum smeared on Ryo's belly and Ryo's attention jerked back as hard as his breath did. "…………." He moaned out, his muscles clenched and his cock immediately pushed even more of it out. Ryo shook his head from side to side trying to clear it but Dee was faster moving to clean his sex off with kittenish licks before pulling the head into the heat of his mouth. Ryo's hips tried to twist up into the heat but were forced into stillness by Dee's tight grip before being pulled unceremoniously into the air.

Dee's fingers bit into his hips and kept him suspended with his butt off the bed and his cock buried in the suction of Dee's mouth. Ryo shuddered, his shoulders blades pulling against the sheets and his head back, eyes squeezed shut while Dee worked his cock deeper and deeper into his mouth and throat, nearly taking it all before pulling off to start all over again. Dee only relented in his ministrations when it was apparent that Ryo was on the verge of climax with his hard panted exhales and his tightening ass. He didn't let Ryo down though, he continued to hold him up in a position a girl would have probably never thought of or been able to carry off with such ease and continued to give little nips and licks to the underside of Ryo's cock, sometimes tracing the large vein present there with his tongue from its origin to its end. Ryo squirmed and pulled his legs up against Dee's body trying to find relief.

"Dee your killing me here." Ryo choked out into the darkness throwing an arm over his eyes and trying to get his heart to quit hammering so hard in his chest.

Dee pressed his tongue into the slit of Ryo's cock drawing a hiss from his overtaxed, overwhelmed lover before answering. "Mmmm... this must be true because you've said fuck more times tonight than you have the entire time I've known you, frankly I didn't even think you knew the word." Ryo just moaned in response. He felt Dee smile against the side of his cock which had to be the strangest thing he ever experienced personally when it came to sex but not strange for Dee to do something like that.

Ryo sighed in relief when his body was lowered back to the bed and settled down into the completely bunched up and thoroughly abused bedding. Dee kissed his way back up Ryo's body and even though he hadn't had a release yet Ryo felt oddly satiated and wondered how much more of this he could handle. It almost felt more like after sex nuzzling for Dee to kiss his skin so softly after so much pressured and heated caresses earlier.

Ryo enjoyed the soft almost snuffling attention Dee was giving his body, only flinching once when he placed a kiss on one of his two now very sore and practically bruised nipples. Not that he remembered complaining when they were in between Dee's sharp teeth and being brought to pebble like hardness in his mouth so he wasn't going to complain now that a dull fire still remained. Ryo just let himself sink into the pleasurable, less threatening enjoyment Dee was giving to him and was smiling when Dee nuzzled up against his neck and blew warm air into his ear.

Dee's hand moved back down his body over the planes of muscles and indents of bones that he had pleasured and tormented in equal parts earlier until he came to rest at Ryo's groin and wrapped around his still very hard erection. It was not going to take much to give Ryo a climax at this point, not much at all. Ryo wondered why he hadn't let him come before, even worried a bit that Dee was intending to have full intercourse and was trying to work him up to it. He would have had to come to grips with Dee's erection being pressed inside of him when he wasn't sure he was ready for that but he would have done it for Dee but apparently that wasn't what Dee had had in mind.

Dee kissed his cheek sweetly, almost chastely, as continued to slowly stroke him, coming to rest against Ryo in much the same way that Ryo had been against him earlier right down to the erection pressed against his hip. Ryo could feel the heat settling into the pit of his stomach spiraling out from the tightly coiled electricity from before and settling into something more languid and sensual.

Dee tightened his hand but not his speed and Ryo could do nothing but sigh into the nicely firm, masculine touch. Dee was nibbling on his ear when his climax abruptly rolled over him and turned his sigh into a hitching of breath and moaning of Dee's name. His balls pulled tight but his muscles relaxed in contrast, his semen gushed out over Dee's hand and dripped onto his belly in an entirely satisfying and relaxing manner. He settled back into Dee's arms making small noises of contentment and tucking up sweetly under his chin after flipping over on his side. He mumbled out a very tired sounding "I love you Dee" and proceeded to drift off to sleep feeling particularly safe and calm.

Dee smiled and kissed the crown of Ryo's shower and sweat dampened hair. They could talk tomorrow after all. He had accomplished what he had set out to do which was not let Ryo over analyze what was going on and not let himself be distracted by what he thought he ought to be doing or experiencing. He wasn't sure what Ryo had expected to happen but Dee was positive of what he wanted to happen, which was very satisfied, boneless, Ryo to be snuggled up against him instead of worrying about what each touch meant and if he was doing it right and if it was okay to feel this way or not. Considering that Ryo had rolled over and plastered his cum splattered belly flatly against Dee's without a second thought and went to sleep, well, Dee thought he had achieved his goal quite satisfactorily. He would have considered it a failure of skills if Ryo had squirmed up to clean himself up instead of relaxing into the moment.

When they were a little further along in the trust department and Ryo wasn't offering to do something Dee was sure he wasn't comfortable with yet than they would move onto more strenuous bedtime activities.

Till the next time…

Arthur's notes: Thank you to everyone! I know this is short these last two chapters were suppose to be one long chapter. I struggled with this half of it a lot and I hope it works out for everyone reading, it may have sounded better in my head.

We're heading back into the main story line next, heading back to our haunted house, so it's time to get our creepy factor back on and how the boys will deal with that and their new relationship.

Reviews: Na-Na1026 I replied to you but my computer showed it timing out so if you didn't get a response thank you, I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed this one.

SewingLifeAlchemist, gives a big grin, glad I could oblige you with the last chapter. ^___^

I have been having trouble with receiving notifications from so if I missed anyone nudge me.


	15. Friends Like This

Arthor's note: Hello, hello. Long time no see. Sorry about that. I haven't abandoned you guys, just got caught up in real life and then had a bit of a struggle with my muse to get kicked back in gear. This is a connection chapter, so there are new things added to the plot and the beginning of Ryo and Dee coming to terms. The next chapter is going to be a straight plunge back into the story line. Too try and keep from having another three week lag (I am, so, so sorry about that) I'm trying to write ahead of myself so I have a chapter at hand, maybe even two.

As always thank you for reading and thank you for your patience. (Side note: totally unbeta'ed I'll fix mistakes, I thought it was more important to get it out there.)

The morning after can always be so very awkward, particularly when you have a way heavy caveman laying on top of you who doesn't want to wake up and there are bodily fluids dried on your skin that you'd rather not think about. Ryo sighed heavily and attempted to dislodge Dee again. He could throw him off, toss him on his ass, but Ryo was trying to be considerate. Ryo blew hair out of his face and wondered just why that was considering he was the one being squished.

Plus, he couldn't prove it, he had no solid admissible in court proof, but Ryo thought the smug bastard was more awake than he was letting on. "Dee. Get Off." Ryo hissed against the top of Dee's head and wiggled a little harder. "I know you're awake, get off Dee, I need to go."

Dee raised sleepy eyes and gave Ryo a soft kiss on his cheek before untangling and rolling off the warm body trapped beneath his. Ryo rolled off the bed with a grateful sigh and headed to the bathroom. Dee wasn't surprised to hear the shower start up a moment later; after all there was only so much he could expect Ryo to tolerate before the need to be clean overwhelmed him. Dee rolled onto his back and put his hands behind his head, studied the ceiling. The question of the day was what now? What would Ryo do now? If Ryo was even remotely like any of his previous lovers Dee wouldn't have thought twice before slipping into the shower with him. Ryo was adamantly not one of those previous lovers and Dee knew it all too well. Ryo could find it overwhelming, too much too soon, or even worse he could find it infuriating, Dee pushing into his personal time and space without invite. Or, and the most likely, it would embarrass the hell out of him and not in a cute and adorable way.

Dee breathed out gently and ignored his body trying to call him to get a cigarette. He had to get rid of the habit because Ryo was going to insist upon it if they were a couple. Dee grinned, Cheshire cat wide. Ryo would be so and incredibly worth it. The cigarettes didn't stand a chance against the prospect of Ryo. Dee listened to the noise of shower and thought completely and unabashedly dirty thoughts of his Ryo under the water's spray soaping up his limbs and chest, suds sliding down to his belly and catching in his groin. Dee licked his lips subconsciously and let his mind slip into the daydream.

A sharp rap on the door broke him out of his thoughts. Dee dragged his body off the bed with an irritable huff; he didn't feel like this intrusion into his happy bubble of being. He thrust his legs into his sweat pants and stomped over yanking the door open in mid knock ready to tell some maid to go the hell away. However the words died in his throat. Whoever this was she was not a maid, nearly as tall as Dee she had one long arm against the doorjamb leaning against it and her long legs splayed out wide, her body language relaxed and confident. Milky blue eyes looked out from beneath a woven cowboy hat, the sides curled up and blond hair spilling out from underneath, for the pace of a few seconds the two just stared at each other, measuring each other up.

Dee felt Ryo come up behind him and it was Ryo that addressed the stranger at the door. "How can we help you miss?" He asked prim and polite. The woman gave him an amused smile.

"Nah, the question is how can I help you boys. I'm Lynn; I'm a friend of Tank's. She asked me to come check on you two and let you know that you're wanted back at the house." She replied her voice heavily covered in a joke that apparently she only knew.

Before Ryo could respond Dee broke in to the conversation. "So why didn't Tank come get us or call us. Why are you here?" He demanded, not liking the way this woman seemed to know something he didn't. He was answered with a snort and short, hard laugh.

"I'm sure she would but she's been fired and isn't supposed to be talking to either of you or having anything to do with property. I'm only here because she took pity on the girl replacing her and asked me to stop over on my way out there to pick up some things she left and let you know what was going on. "Lynn said and with a shrug of her shoulders straightened up from the door frame. Ryo frowned at her easy nature and unseemly amusement at her friend being fired. Lynn caught the look and laughed again.

"It ain't as bad as all that pretty eyes, take it easy. Come on you two, I ain't got all day to hang around and I'd as soon as get this done and over with if it's all the same to you. I'm not suppose to go on the property either without one or both of your as an escort." Lynn rocked back on her heels and shoved her hands in her jean pockets and gave them both another appraising look before speaking again. "Looks like only one of you is ready to take on the world, I'm gonna head over to the gas station and get some coffee and I'll meet you down in the lobby if that's all right."

Ryo gave her a curt nod and started to make the rounds of the hotel room cleaning it up and gathering his and Dee's things. Dee stayed at the door, he was the one who wasn't dressed, standing there bare chested and bare foot in nothing but sweats that didn't quite mask his half hard cock and the dry, papery remnants of last night's activities flaking off his exposed skin. Dee narrowed his eyes at the woman in front of him and her casual disregard of his state of undress. The woman, Lynn, nodded at him and turned away heading towards the elevator.

"Hey, cowboy, wait a minute." He hollered after her, questions burning in his throat. She turned back towards him and arched an eyebrow.

"Cowboy?" She asked, a one word question challenging his lack of proper gender.

"Yeah, that's what I said. You mind telling me what kind of 'friend' you are to Tank?" He pushed out the question even though he was fairly sure of the answer. The woman smirked and turned back to the elevators and started to walk.

"I'm the kind of friend that keeps her from getting cold at night. Something it looks an awful lot like you have experience in doing yourself with that pretty eyed friend of yours." The elevator doors opened and she stepped through, Dee got one last glance of her still highly amused face before the doors closed.

Dee shut the door and turned back to deal with his irate and pissed off partner. Ryo was doing things with his usual exacting attention to detail but he was using a lot more force than necessary, nearly slamming things into either the trash can or their appropriate bags. He hadn't been paying attention to the conversation between Dee and Lynn. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Ryo was upset that Tank had been fired and Lynn's attitude had only made it worse. Dee on the other hand found his self thinking that there was more to the story than they had heard and wanted to give Lynn the benefit of the doubt until he knew more.

He left the packing up to Ryo, slipping out of his sweat pants and chucking them into the bag Ryo had dedicated as a dirty clothes bag and accepting the clothes Ryo was handing him to wear. Dee stepped into the bathroom to do a quick shower and shave and left the rest in Ryo's capable hands.

Thirty minutes later he was standing outside in the sunshine, the previous stormy weather having rolled out to leave blistering blue skies and hot humid air to breathe. He had found Lynn leaning up against an old blue and white pickup truck. She handed him a wax cup filled to the brim with coffee, two more cups were balanced on the lip of the truck's bed. Dee thanked her and took a cautious sip after blowing on it for a few minutes. They were waiting on Ryo who was going through the check out process and giving some clerk a very rough time. Dee would have felt bad for the pasty skinned young man but it was obvious Ryo was not in the mood to be messed with when they walked up to check out and the younger man had started it when instead of listening to Ryo when he explained a mistake in the charges the boy had curled his mouth up and sarcastically responded "Yeah sure." His tone making it more than clear he thought Ryo was lying to him. Dee had escaped with the bags and left the boy to his fate.

Time to get to the bottom of things before Ryo gets out here and things escalate Dee thought and gave the woman another critical eye over before speaking. "You mind telling me why you're not upset about Tank getting fired? Seems kinda strange if you ask me, the way you seem to be laughing up what shouldn't be a good thing."

Lynn hummed through the sip of coffee she was taking, trying to nod, swallow and answer all at the same time which wasn't working. Dee waited patiently while she finished and cleared her throat.

"Sorry about that, I know I come off like a bitch but I can't help it. You have to understand, this is the eighth or ninth time Ellen's been quote, unquote, 'fired'. Her boss man gets some young thing up in his office with bouncy tits and quits using the correct head to think with. It never lasts, either the girl gets scared off by the ghost or the boss's wife gets her claws in them and out they go." Lynn paused to take another sip of her coffee, her eyes watching Ryo through the glass doors of the hotel giving someone new a huge piece of his mind. Lynn gave a nod in his direction and took another sip before she continued. "He's got quite a temper on him, don't he? He's got someone in management flustered and red in the face, I'd love to know what he's telling them, maybe take notes for the next time someone gives me grief."

Dee turned to look and, indeed, Ryo was in there having on and having at some dude wearing a suit, the clerk seemed to be hiding off to the side. Dee just shrugged and turned back to Lynn giving her a grin that had weakened the knees of countless men and woman but only brought a matching grin from her.

"So you think this will be like the other times and Tank will be rehired?" Dee turned the conversation back to their previous discussion, gently pressing for further information. Lynn shook her head yes setting her coffee down and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Sure I do. Ya'll stayed at that house and I know what kind of welcome you got, she told me all about it. You think the house doesn't like you? Uh, uh. El won't take crap from the house but the activity goes through the roof when a young woman stays there. The girl spent her first night there last night. Ell's boss, because he has gigantism of the balls, gave her Ell's cell phone number to call if there were any problems even though he had supposedly let her go. Two am in the morning the girl was on the phone crying and snotting all over the place and begging El to come stay with her. El had to explain to her that she wasn't suppose to go back on the property and if she was having problems to call the duckweed herself. "Lynn stopped her story and made motion towards the hotel. "Your friend is done in there so I guess it's time to go now." Lynn handed Dee the other coffee while she retrieved her own and opened her truck door, hauling herself up into the driver's seat. She took a minute to put her cup in a store bought plastic console sitting in the middle of the bench seat of the old work truck. She turned back to Dee while starting up the engine. "You know Dee, it wouldn't surprise me to find Tank there when I get there, probably rehired and helping a traumatized youngin to get her stuff in her car. In fact I would lay money on it. See you there." Lynn pulled the heavy door shut and gave Dee a wave before pulling off.

Dee gave Ryo the coffee and once they were settled into their rental car he relayed what Lynn had said which seemed to mollify his pissed off lover. Ryo kept up conversation all the way to the house, barely paying attention to the trees whipping by the window or the road. Dee was silently thankful he was driving and not Ryo, Ryo's mind was elsewhere. He talked about Lynn and Ellen and the revelation that they were a couple if what Lynn said was true and how unfair and discriminating it was for Ellen to constantly be fired so some old man could slobber over someone to young for him and when he had puttered out on those topics Ryo took a leap into the paranormal with an ease and energy that belied his former stance on the subject. Dee knew Ryo was avoiding discussing what had happened the night before and oddly enough he didn't mind. Every now and again Ryo's hands would flutter as he made some point or the other and then he would tentatively rest his hand along the top of Dee's thigh, the long fingers flexing against the denim of his jeans.

Those delicate touches told Dee more than any words Ryo could have uttered anyway. Ryo was stretching his boundaries on his own, skittish and, Dee was sure, still scared of this step in their relationship, but still moving forward. Each time he got a little braver, his hand staying a little longer, gripping a little more tightly. Dee continued to nod and throw in the odd comment here or there gently encouraging Ryo to keep going. By the time the house was in view Ryo's hand had come to rest solidly at the top of Dee's thigh, his fingers curled over the inside pressing lightly into Dee's groin. Dee pulled the car into the drive way, parking it behind Lynn's truck, noticing with satisfaction that Tank's car was there too, encouraged by the sight and by Ryo's creeping advancement on his leg Dee leaned over and gave Ryo an affectionate kiss on cheek. Ryo blushed but didn't pull his hand away from Dee instead Ryo brought up his other hand to rest on the side of Dee's cheek and returned the kiss, full on the lips. Soft and sweet, tremulous and scared and so full of hope, it made Dee's heart ache. Dee smiled at him.

"Come on partner; let's go see what's going on in the devil's summer home." Dee said, squeezing Ryo's knee before they pulled apart and slid out the car. Ryo made the door first and knocked on it before twisting the doorknob to let them in. He had no more cleared the stoop when a phone book came flying at him and smacking into the wall beside his startled head. Dee pushed him a little further into the room so he could come in as well. Dee picked up the phone book and tucked it under his arm.

"Hi honey we're home. Guess you didn't miss us." He sarcastically announced to something he could not see but was getting sorely sick and tired of. Why couldn't they have gotten a ghost that didn't like to fling things at them?

Standing in the center of the room was Ellen, holding some girl that didn't look old enough to drink in her arms and trying to comfort her. Lynn was leaning against the wall leading into the hall way her feet crossed at the ankles and an annoyed look on her face, her thin lips drawn tight and her arms crossed under her breast. She looked a lot like she wanted to smack someone, hard. At Dee's comment she rolled her eyes but then flashed him a grin to let him know she was playing.

"Hi Ryo, Dee. This is Taylor McAfee, she is supposed to take over for me but she's had a rough night and was just about to be on her way." Ellen told them which caused the girl in her arms to give out another sob.

"I can't stay here another night, there's just no way. I'm going home. "She wailed out, hiccupping over her sobs. Ellen gave her a gentle pat and started working her towards the door. Ryo and Dee both stepped out of the way. The girl clutched her overnight bag closer to her body as she passed them and they could hear Ellen muttering comforting assurances to her as she got the girl to her car. Ryo and Dee both looked at Lynn.

"Told you." Was all she said before pushing herself off the wall and heading into the kitchen and proceeded to make a racket. Ellen slipped back into the house and gave each of them a hug before moving into the kitchen too. Ryo followed and where Ryo goes, so goes Dee.

Dee nearly collided into his back, brought up short by Ryo's sudden stop. The kitchen once more looked like a bomb had exploded in it. The refrigerator door was wide open, the freezer section too, and the contents of both were splattered all over the kitchen walls, the table, the floor, the countertops, there was even some on the ceiling. Lynn was squatted down picking up various pieces of glass of what used to be a pickle jar. Dee just gaped.

Ryo was galvanized into action first lurching forward like someone had him on pause and then hit the play button. He quickly gathered up the broom and dustpan which were currently on the kitchen table and flipped over on the floor respectively and started to sweep up what looked the remains of a box of Cheerios. Dee took a deep breath; mini vacation over, back to the Twilight Zone crossed his mind as he leaned over and snagged one of the rolls of paper towels from the commercial size package of them that Ellen had sitting on the floor. Where to start, the mayonnaise smeared on the wall that had the frying pan dent in it, or the drying ketchup that cheerfully spelled out WHORE across the kitchen's linoleum floor? Decisions, decisions.


	16. Mrs Billie Louise Alcott

Authors note: As always, thank you for reading; I hope everyone enjoys this new update. Special thanks to everyone who has commented, especially those of you who I can't reply, each one of you has brought a smile to my face and your generosity in your reviews has encouraged me greatly to see this story through to the end (which is getting closer with each new chapter I put out). I'm very grateful to all of you.

Two hours later the kitchen had once more been returned to a pristine condition. It was two hours of Dee's life that he sorely wished he could get back because it had not been fun in the least. Dried ketchup does not come up easily and the mayonnaise had started to spoil before they managed to get all of it cleaned up from all the surfaces it had been splattered on. Ellen had cracked a not so humorous joke about the number of times she had spent cleaning up the house this past week and how good she was getting at it what with all the practice she had. Trudging out the house with the last trash bag of destroyed food products Dee thought to his self that they were all getting a little too much practice in when it came to picking up after the resident, habitually pissed off ghost.

Once it was all said and done Lynn bullied and prodded Ellen into riding with her to the grocery store to replace the food and left Dee alone with a sour faced Ryo. Both the Chief and Rose had called to check in on them while they were cleaning and the conversations had left Ryo highly irritated with them and the situation. Ryo wanted to go home and had been incredibly straight forward in saying so to their Chief before Dee had gotten the phone away from him and taken the phone call outside. The Chief just as bluntly asked what the hell had gotten under Randy's skin to make him act like that which had left Dee with the unenviable chore of explaining the highly improbable to a man who most likely did not want to hear it.

Dee had persevered though, being just as blunt right back and telling the Chief in no uncertain terms that what was going on at his friend's house was not a police matter and they could not help. The Chief had finally just sighed and made some huffing noises before accepting Dee's explanation of events. Dee could not however convince their superior to let them come home. Warren was adamant that they see the assignment through and was already working on the obfuscation he was going to tell his friend when next they spoke. Something along the lines of his two best detectives had found nothing whatsoever and couldn't hang around forever. Dee had shrugged when he had finally snapped Ryo's cell phone shut; if the dude didn't listen to all the other people who told him the damn house was haunted it wasn't his problem to change his mind. He'd be back on a plane to New York soon enough and it would no longer be his or Ryo's problem.

He had no more handed the phone back to Ryo when it rang again, this time Rose's number coming up on the display. Ryo had scowled at the phone and seemed to be in some sort of internal struggle with his self before giving in and answering the phone. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was not happy with whatever Rose was saying to him, Ryo's face getting tighter and sourer by the second. Dee wisely decided that it was an excellent time to get that smoke he had been putting off for the last few hours. Ryo's temper was nothing to play around with and he'd been in a mood all morning long. It cost Dee a lot of his own emotional control to not snatch the phone out of Ryo's hand and tell Rose to piss off. He didn't like the man on the best of days and he absolutely hated the way he tried to move in on Ryo. If he stayed to listen he would only wind up losing his temper his self and that would get him nowhere he wanted to be with Ryo.

Dee took his time with his smoke, dragging on the cigarette as he walked from the front of the house to back of the house letting his gaze slide over the landscape. It was interesting how this place smelled, a far cry from the city, the yard was strewn with pine needles and they crackled under his feet where he walked. These dried out pine needles and pine cones had their own smell to them, it reminded Dee of the rare field trips in his childhood when the orphanage would take the kids out of the city and they'd eat bagged lunches of baloney sandwiches with little bags of potato chip seated out on the grounds of whatever museum or nature preserve they would be at for day. This was the smell of sun drenched days, thin brown pine needles warmed by the heat and sometimes pliable enough for the girls to braid them together in necklaces and bracelets that never quite held up long enough to make it back home again.

The deeper, muskier scent he picked up came from well within the thick woods surrounding the yard and even more heavily from an area of the shed where it perpetually stayed in the shade; pine needles had come up the side of the building in a thick drift. Dee would not have stuck his hand in that mess for anything short of Ryo asking it of him. It smelled rich and decayed, he knew it would be damp underneath, the leaves breaking back down into soil at the bottom of the muck, and no likely filled to the brim with all sorts of beetles, palmetto bugs, and worms. In just getting close to it caused him to have to puff out more and more of his cigarette smoke to keep the buzzing mosquitoes at bay.

A shiver swept down Dee's back as he stood there with smoke swimming about his head as he alternated between blowing it out and waving the hand that held the cigarette about in the air to further disperse the little black blood sucking monsters. It was cooler here by several degrees but it was by no means a pleasant escape from the more pronounced heat in the center of the yard. The place felt seriously off to Dee so he made his way back towards the house taking reassurance from the crunch of the needles and dry grass beneath his feet proving that he was moving steadily away from the area. Not for the last time he thought to himself that this place royally sucked, there was a weird feeling between his shoulder blades like he was being stared at, followed by eyes he could not see and it was giving him the willies the longer it went on. Goosebumps rose up on his neck and arms despite the summer heat. He had the uncanny feeling that if he were to turn around quick enough he would catch a glimpse of a weathered old man standing at the door of the shed. In his mind's eye he could see the grey bristles on the man's cheeks, the awkward line of his mouth hiding ill fitting dentures, the worn out work pants he'd have on over old steel toed work boots and the grubby nature of his t-shirt with a short sleeved button up thrown over it. But Dee had no such inclination to whip his head about and see if it proved true or not and held his sight steady on the house and the back door that would lead him back to Ryo.

Ryo opened the door just as Dee reached it and ushered him back into the house. The air conditioning spilled down onto Dee and he wrinkled his nose, it smelled old too and he wondered how he had missed that the first night they had spent there. The entire place was like an over ripe piece of fruit, sweet and sickly, he could only imagine how it must be clinging to their clothes and skin. Ryo's cell phone had been tossed up on to the kitchen counter, a clear indicator of Ryo's vexation with the place and with Rose. Dee put out a hand and laid it lightly on Ryo's upper arm, holding his attention when Ryo looked up into his eyes.

"You want to tell me about it? Get it off your chest before it gets to you?" Dee asked quietly. He was sure he wasn't going to like it but nothing Rose did ever made Dee's list of joy and happiness. Ryo rolled his eyes and scowled, pulling his arms up to cross over his chest. But then a lower lip was pulled between his teeth and Ryo looked thoughtful for a moment. Mentally Dee urged Ryo, silently encouraging him to continue, to lean on Dee and trust in him the way he trusted and leaned on Ryo. Ryo gave a little shake of his head but then surprised Dee by sliding into his arms and laying his head on Dee's shoulder, their bodies pressed together tight. Dee automatically locked his own arms around Ryo and held him close. The angels in heaven could have heard the soaring bursting of Dee's heart when Ryo relaxed against him and gave out small contented sigh, all the tenseness bleeding out from his body. 'Now that's my Ryo.' Dee thought happily to his self, nuzzling the soft waves of Ryo's hair and matching contented sigh for contented sigh.

From the vicinity of Dee's shirt Ryo murmured at him. "Nothing to really tell Dee, same old same old, he makes me feel like a piece of meat he's trying to tenderize for dinner. I don't even think he realizes how much he comes off like a dirty old man. I imagine he thinks he's being quite charming but he's not. I wish he'd just give it a rest and act like a professional for once. The whole conversation was him trying to subtly put you down while trying to hit on me. Just bleah. I feel like I need another shower to get the slime off." Ryo sighed out again and snuggled into Dee. "This is nice Dee, just being with you like this is really, really nice."

A brightness threatened behind Dee's eyelids but he blinked them back, happy tears were still tears and he was still a man, so he stifled them and instead nodded in to Ryo's hair. "Yeah, I think so too." He answered back softly and rubbed his hand up and down Ryo's back in a soothing gesture. It was a wonderful moment; one Dee wanted to last and to remember for ever after when it ended. Ryo hummed appreciatively against his neck sending a gentle vibration into him. Maybe his heart really was going to burst Dee thought because he was sure his body couldn't possibly contain much more joy before it surpassed his ability to hold and spilled out into the universe around him.

They stood this way for quite some time, enough time for the back of Dee's legs to tighten up and it was with great reluctance that he eased out of the embrace enough to coax Ryo to the couch too sit down. Instead of sitting beside him though Ryo slid onto Dee's lap facing him, his knees tucked up against Dee's hips, and his arms loosely about Dee's shoulders. From this position Ryo was slightly above Dee. Dee settled his own arms across the top of Ryo's thighs and then around his backside, grabbing on with both hands. Dee stared up into Ryo's nearly blacked eyed stare and tried to read past the inky darkness, to know for sure what was going on in his partner's often confusing mind. Ryo whispered against his lips. "The girls will be out for a while, right?" Dee could only nod watching his partner raptly. The girls would be out for awhile if he had to bar the door to keep them from coming in. Ryo's mouth touched his and a warm tongue flicked against his lips briefly before sliding inside and slipping across his on tongue. Dee instinctively tightened his hold on Ryo's hips and ass, pulling him hard against his groin and abdomen.

This kiss was different, different than all the kisses he had wrangled from Ryo before, different from even the few sweet ones that Ryo had initiated, different from the ones last night. Ryo didn't do half measures very well, whatever he set about to do he did thoroughly, whether it was cleaning the kitchen or cleaning his gun. Dee had long wondered if Ryo were ever to give into the things they both wanted from each other if he would give Dee all of the attention and intensity he gave everything else. Ryo might move slowly, cautiously, might be easy to spook if Dee overplayed his hand, but Dee had his answer in the here in now in the way Ryo pressed into the kiss with firmness and dedication. Ryo was drinking Dee in and it felt incredible to be on the receiving end of Ryo's love and devotion.

Tongues swept over teeth and played back and forth, pushing and pulling, giving and taking only breaking for little gasps of air before settling into each other once more. Dee had pulled Ryo's shirt from his jeans and finally got his hands on the warm skin of his lovers back, caressing the other man trying to feed into him by touch just how much he was wanted and loved. Ryo's hands were tangled up in Dee's hair, holding his head where he wanted it, pulling Dee up into his mouth, riding up on Dee's body so that his hardening erection was pressed against Dee's upper belly and his sternum. It was good, so good and so right.

They were lost in each other, the first slam of a kitchen cabinet hadn't really registered in either of their minds but by the third one had opened and closed with a bang they had reluctantly broken apart. Ryo looked down into Dee's eyes with sincere regret that the moment was being shattered; one hand was still on Dee's face, fingers pressed into his neck and a thumb carefully brushing over the curves of Dee's cheek. Dee's lips were slightly swollen and delicately parted, his eyes darkened with the pupils blown wide, it was a heady feeling to realize he had this effect on the strong man beneath him. Inside of Ryo anger stirred and breathed even as a smile played about his lips. None of the anger was directed at Dee, of course, Ryo was hardly aware yet that it was anger; sometimes he didn't always recognize the emotion inside himself up until the moment he blew up. He liked to believe he was a gentle soul and for the most part he was but it left him vulnerable to filling up with so much hostility that when it did breach the surface others were often stunned by the velocity of it.

Another cabinet door in the kitchen swung open and slammed shut with enough force that Ryo could hear when it bounced back and tapped against the frame a few times before spilling. A very foul word, one that would have gotten Bikky bopped on the top of his head for using flickered into the forefront of Ryo's mind. He carefully slid off Dee's lap and got to his feet.

"I guess intermission is over Dee." He said and offered Dee his hand to pull him up from the couch. Ryo resented the interference. Now that he had opened himself to his emotions and to the experience he wanted more of what had transpired last night, he wanted to touch the handsome man who had waited so long for him, commit everything he could to memory to be savored and treasured. Instead he was stuck at this awful home having things thrown at him, life chaotic and out of his control and a myriad of other unpleasant experiences. He had never wanted to be home so badly in his life. In his own apartment, his nice quiet apartment, with Bikky off with Carol somewhere and him settled down into Dee's lap once more.

The kitchen cabinets kept on merrily opening and slamming as both men got to their feet and looked towards the kitchen. Neither one of them wanted to go in there just as neither one of them knew what to do to make the racket stop. Dee scrubbed a hand across the back of his in frustration and then yelled out "Knock it the hell off, Christ already." Surprisingly the noises became softer and further apart and over the span of a few minutes petered out all together. Dee looked at Ryo, Ryo looked at Dee.

"Well that was unexpected." Ryo understated with a frown on his face. Carefully the both edged into the kitchen. Nothing but quiet and stillness met them, the kind of dense quiet that settles in before a storm, it made Ryo uneasy and set his nerves on edge. The way Dee was looking back forth, his fingers clutched tightly around Ryo's wrist let him know that Dee felt it too, the inherent wrongness in the room.

They both jumped, Ryo biting back on a shrill scream, when the silence and mounting tension was suddenly broken by one single, but extremely loud, thump came from behind them in the living room. Dee involuntarily yanked Ryo into him hard causing him to lose his balance and stumble into Dee's chest sending both of them crashing back into the refrigerator and nearly to the floor before Dee got his footing back and managed to hold them both upright. Ryo's heart thumped hard in his chest and he knew his eyes were saucer wide, adrenaline pumping wildly in his body.

With more trepidation than what they had entered the kitchen with they made their way back towards the living room. From the entrance they peered back into the living room. Sitting in the middle of the floor was a Holy Bible, as if it had just dropped from the ceiling, certainly it hadn't been in the room before. Ryo straightened his shoulders back and walked towards the book, pulling himself free from Dee's grasp. As he bent down to pick the book up it sprang open and the pages fluttered rapidly before finally coming to rest somewhere in Romans. Ryo picked up the book carefully and looked down at the book his eyes drawn to a passage that had been previously highlighted.

'Romans 1:26-27 - "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

Dee read the passage over his shoulder and started to swear under his breath, Ryo managed to keep in the caustic thoughts burning in his head but couldn't defeat the heat creeping into his face and neck. The anger flickered in him a little more strongly even as his fingers trembled with the force of his emotions. The bible was snapped close and tossed onto a coffee table. Wrong answer he thought to himself. Dee for all his faults and openness was still Catholic at the end of the day, something that had to do greatly with how the woman he considered his mother had raised him. Ryo on the other hand had not been raised in religion and was still holding a pretty solid grudge against even the idea of a higher being that he was supposedly answerable to because of his parents' murder. It was only consideration for Dee that had kept him from violently throwing the book against the far wall.

Ryo wiped at his hands rubbing his thumbs over his fingers where the book had left a residue behind that felt and looked like sand. Ryo showed them to Dee rubbing off a few of the crystals into Dee's open palm whose puzzlement showed openly on his face. Dee picked up the Bible then and wiped off a good bit more sand crusted on the bibles cover, when he shook from the cover, letting the pages swing freely downward, even more sand shook out onto the coffee table and floor.

Dee flipped the book to its front page, a thick piece of paper much heavier than the tissue like layers of the bible, it was a place for a person to write when they had received the bible and to whom it belonged. Written in a stocky handwriting was the day May 28, 1982 and a name, Mrs. Billy Louise Alcott. Dee showed it to Ryo while fishing out his phone from his jeans pocket. He dialed in Tank's number and waited, hoping to get a good connection even if she was inside a grocery store or Wal-mart. The phone rang several times and he was about to give up when Lynn answered with a crisp hello.

"Hey this is Dee, has Ellen got a minute?" He asked.

"Nope 'fraid not she's trying to pay for the groceries as we speak. That's why I have the phone. Something I can do for you?" Lynn politely asked.

"Yeah, ask her if she knows anything about a bible, green cover, NIV version, has the name Billie Alcott in the front of it." Dee told her. Lynn laughed in his ear.

"So that thing's back. Where'd you find it if you don't mind me asking?" She asked.

"We didn't find it; we found it dropped in the middle of the living room floor." He told her, frowning over at Ryo.

"I'm sure you did, you boys haven't been fornicating while we were gone have you? You know how disappointed El would be if she knew she missed that." Lynn's voice was distant and marked with dry amusement.

"No, we have not been 'fornicating' as you put it, not that I wouldn't mind if we had been. You got any idea why it's covered sand and been highlighted in?" Dee asked with greater irritation bleeding out over the words.

"Yeah, I sure do. El found it one too many times with one passage or another highlighted in it letting her know what an evil and unholy woman she was for kissing other girls. She's thrown it out in the yard maybe a half a dozen times now. Always seems to make its way back in. If she finds it at the house when she gets back she'll chunk it out again. It pisses her off badly." Lynn explained. "She and the late, great Mrs. Alcott do not see eye to eye on the subject and she's called Tank for reason, she won't be bullied by anybody living or otherwise. Gotta go Dee, the groceries are bagged and loaded in the buggy, see you in a bit." The phone connection went dead in Dee's hand.

He had had the speaker up on it and Ryo had been able to clearly over hear everything that was said. He didn't look to far from taking a page from Tank's methodology and tossing the book out the back door. Dee closed the bible and put it under his arm for safe keeping. Ryo moved off with a snort whether for the book itself or its former owner, Mrs. Alcott was hard to say.

His mind had drifted so he started and nearly dropped the bible when his phone started ringing again. Dee flipped it back open and spit out a terse hello. Ellen's rich voice poured into his ear with the sound of traffic in the background.

"Hey there honey bunny. I hear you've picked up a new edition to add to your reading list courtesy of the prior lady of the house. I suppose since that's how she wants to play it you and Ryo should take another look underneath the master bed. There is a cardboard box under there; pushed up against the wall, I'm sure you two saw it when you were checking out the house, right?" Dee made a noise in the affirmative. "All right then, I'm sure you know it's full of papers and things. That is the last of the Alcott's in that box, pictures of them as a couple, pictures of them before they became a couple, those types of things. They were married well into their life, his first wife, her third husband, so there is a lot of history crammed into one box. Pulling out into traffic now, I'll catch up with you when we get back. Bye."

Disconnected once more, Dee went into the master bedroom, Ryo on his heels and dug out the box. They had rifled through it on their first sweep through the house but only to see if there were any devices hidden in it, they hadn't really looked at anything. Dee carefully tipped it over onto the bed. The last thing to come out was a black and white photo of two men standing in front of mountain look out, each with an arm casually slung around the others waste. Dee picked it up and studied it, it was not a picture of good friends or relatives, this was a picture of two lovers, and he'd stake his badge on it. For a moment his mind dipped back to the impression of the old man standing in front of the shed and he wondered if one of these two young men staring back at him, smiling, from the faded photograph had become that old man.

He held it up to Ryo silently who held up a photo of his own, this one framed, of a middle aged woman with hard eyes standing next to a man who for lack of better words looked all manners of whipped, two teenagers, a boy and girl stood off to the woman's other side. As family photos went this was not a good one, the whole vibe was bad, there was no sense of love or connection between any of the people.

Between the pieces of paper and old photos was a tale to be told, one that didn't appear to have been a happy one. Silently the men set about spreading out each piece on the bed rearranging as they went to try and make a cohesive time line and get to the bottom of the mystery of an undistinguished house in the middle of nowhere.


	17. A Box of Lies Story Update!

Randomized bits of paper and pictures with no order and no connection, how many of us are leaving only this behind? A jumbled mess to an outsider and probably nearly so for an insider but the detectives were determined and patient, pulling pieces this way and that, re-ordering, discussing, and little spits of intuition until they had a clearer picture. It was Tank who made the skewered and awkward family photos make sense. She breezed in with Lynn on her heels picked up the black and white photo Dee had studied earlier, the one that didn't seem to fit in anywhere with the other pictures. The young man on the right was obviously Mr. Alcott but the other man was unknown and never repeated. Tank pulled it to her on the bed and tapped the unknown young man with her fingers and dubbed him one Saul Carlisle, Jonathan Alcott's best friend, confidante, business partner, and presumed lover.

You could see the moment the detectives "got" it and nearly on each other's heels. El watched amused as they both tried to grab the marriage license they had found at the same time. Mrs. Alcott's given name on the paper was Billie Louise Marten Carlisle. And suddenly it made sense, a horrible tragic sense, but there it was in photos before them for anyone to see who knew what to look for. The time line holding true to the papers they had found and put in order.

Mrs. Alcott was born one Billie Louise Thompson. She had married Walter Marten at the age of twenty seven and became step mother to a little girl whose mother had passed away in a car accident. The box held clippings from the local news for both the engagement and for the crash dated slightly over three years apart. The photo for the engagement showed a man in his late twenties, early thirties seated in a wheelchair, a little girl on his lap and Billie Louise as a young woman standing beside them with her hand on his shoulder and dressed in her Sunday best. Among the papers were certifications and papers indicating that until her first marriage she had been a nurse and it was easy to presume that she had been one of the nurses taking care of Walter Marten after the unfortunate accident that had claimed his wife's life.

Dee shuddered as he looked at the engagement photo, the man looked pale and wane, he did not look like a man who had had the great fortune to fall in love again after the loss of his wife. The little girl was subdued, nearly lifeless; the only person with any real energy in the photo was Mrs. Alcott. It wasn't a blushing bride that Dee saw in the photo but the smug look of someone whose manipulations had born fruit. She looked like a predator that had her prey well within her grasp.

A death certificate for Mr. Marten was also in the box, paper clipped to his obituary. Mr. Marten hadn't survived much past his marriage, a few months after saying his vows he developed pneumonia and passed away leaving his young daughter to his new wife to raise. The obituary clarified that Walter Martin had been in ill health since the accident and while his life had been cut tragically short his death had been at least somewhat expected.

It hadn't taken the enterprising Mrs. Alcott long to lay her hands on another husband. No engagement announcement this time but in its stead a record of live birth of a son, Paul Jonathan Carlisle, born less than two years after Walter Marten's death. Parents listed as Saul T. Carlisle and Billie Louise M. Carlisle. No further mention of the name Carlisle was made until it appeared on the wedding certificate for the Alcott's as Mrs. Alcott took her third and final husband. Despite having married and fathered a child with her Saul Carlisle had been eradicated out of her life, no pictures left behind of him save for the one where he had his arm thrown around the waist of a younger, happier Jonathan Alcott.

Ryo held up the picture of the Alcott family, the one where Mr. Alcott stood stiffly beside his wife dressed in an ill suited and ill fitted suit; his dark hair neatly combed and oiled smatterings of grey around the temple and above his ears. It wasn't him that Ryo was looking at but the son, now that he knew the boy was Carlisle's Ryo could see it in his face, the shape of his eyes, the lines of his cheekbones. Strange how the most obvious things can be missed until you know to look for them and how everything is so much clearer in hindsight than it ever is when you are struggling through it. Ryo moved on to look at the daughter, curious now to see if girl looked as much like Marten or had she favored the mother more, what he saw when he really looked at her gave him a bit of a start enough so that his eyes slid over to study Ellen's face. She caught him immediately and promptly winked at him and stuck out her tongue and then laughed when he blushed.

Lynn chuckled too and pulled Ellen back to rest against her, leaned back against the wall, her arms round Ellen's round waist. Dee looked from them back to Ryo in confusion, his thoughts on the papers before them he had missed the exchange completely.

"Well, Ryo's figured it out, at least partially; let's see what Dee can do, yeah?" Ellen said, her good humor evident as she snuggled back into Lynn's embrace, giving a little appreciative sigh when Lynn nuzzled a kiss on the top of her head. Dee pinned down Ryo and arched an eyebrow. Silently Ryo handed over the photograph to Dee and waited. It didn't take long. One second his brow was furrowed as examined it and the next it was wrinkled as his eyes went up in surprise.

"And I see Dee is as sharp sighted and minded as his partner. Before you ask, yes we're related, she's a cousin of mine on my mother's side, Walter Marten's sister. These damn chipmunk cheeks are a dead giveaway aren't they? You get us all in a room together and we could do a fair rendition of an Alvin and the Chipmunks family reunion." Ellen acknowledged what their eyes were telling them cheerfully, distracted by Lynn's attentions to her neck and laughing softly when Lynn muttered that she liked her chipmunk cheeks and kissed the one turned up towards her.

"Does the owner know this?" Ryo asked.

"Not at all. He's never bothered to look into the history of the house or its previous owners. Why would he? It's no concern of his and he's not from this area in the first place." Ellen saw the sour look spreading across Ryo's face and cut him off before he could start. "And get that thought out of your head young man right now. I didn't like the old biddy, no one who knows the real story of what went on does, old goat that she was but I haven't the least bit to gain by this house one way or the other. I haven't a thing to do with all the stuff that has gone on other than to be the person that picks all the pieces up."

"I know that Ellen but someone looking in from the outside, someone who hasn't been here when there are eggs flying across the kitchen, will be all too happy to assume you had something to do with it. You should have told us you were related to the original owners of the house." Ryo told her, trying to sound stern but the voice that worked so well on Dee and Bikky Ellen was impervious too.

Ellen snorted. "Why? So you could make the same mistake from day one and think you had it all wrapped up nice and neat? You, and I do mean you Ryo, would have jumped at the chance to dismiss all of this with an easy cut and dried answer. I can practically see your report now, disgruntled former relative, obviously up to mischief, case closed." Ellen clapped her hands together to mimic the closing of a file or a book and then pretended to dust them off, before laying them back on top of Lynn's arms. Ellen sighed but this time it was a depressed push of air instead of the more breathy sigh of pleasure she gave Lynn earlier. "No, I had to let it play out so that you two could see for yourselves what was going on around here. Besides, I really did take the job because I needed the money and a place to stay. I hadn't been divorced for very long and my last place of employment went out of business. Lynn and I had only just started to date. When I took the job I remember being amused at the coincidence but I was more concerned with getting a roof over my head. Now it's more like a stone around my neck."

Dee interrupted Ellen. "How so? From a detectives point of view you've just admitted you need the job and a place to stay, the sooner the house is renovated the sooner you'd be out of both. If it really were a problem for you why didn't you quit? The obvious answer would be because you couldn't afford to."

Ellen gave him a depreciating look. "Is that what you really think Dee? That in all this time I couldn't have found another job? What do your observation skills tell you about me and Lynn Dee? If you had just met us what would you see?"

Dee was quiet for a moment as he looked at them, really looked at them. "I see a happily settled couple, if you weren't the same sex I would assume you were married or well on your way to being married. You're comfortable with each other, in each other's back pockets, neither of you have the nerves or the excitement of people who have just started dating." Dee frowned. "In fact I would be hard pressed to explain why you still live here and aren't shacked up at Lynn's feeding each other pancakes and eggs for breakfast and sharing the morning newspaper over coffee."

Ryo reached out and took the photo back from Dee and looked at it again, at the sullen sad faces of the teenagers and the hardness of Mrs. Alcott's washed out blue eyes. "Because it's personal for you, isn't Ellen? You stay because the house is haunted. I can't tell you how much I hate saying that word by the way. Haunted." Ryo handed the frame out to Ellen when she reached for it, clasping it to her chest. "You stay because that woman put that look on those faces and you knew them, at least your cousin but likely the boy too, you knew them and you stay because of them. Isn't that right? You stay because you know what haunts this house and you don't want others subjected to her. "

Ellen smiled but it was faint, pained. She went to speak, seemed to struggle with her throat and then gave it up, with tears in her eyes she settled for just nodding. Lynn hugged her a little tighter and dropped another kiss on her head before clearing her own throat to speak.

"She won't leave. I've pleaded with her too but every time I think I convince her to just walk away from it all something else happens. I don't know how much you guys were told about the place but people have been injured here. The architect who came to look over the house and draw up the plans for renovations was a bit on the effeminate side. I make it a practice to not try and guess whose family and who isn't but if I had to guess I would have had to guess he was gay. That bible you called about hit the man in the face hard enough to knock him over, he busted his head open on the coffee table on the way down. Mr. Desmont paid his medical bills but the man flat out refused to return. The black men who came to look at the roof were spooked by all the noise inside the house but were otherwise left alone however when a black lawyer showed up with an insurance agent to look over the property the minute he stepped into the house the doors started opening and closing on their own and didn't stop until he was a mile or more down the road. The poor Mexicans that have shown up to start working on the yard and I think they were to start on the renovations were so terrified by the end of their first week that not one of them could be talked into coming back in the yard for any amount of money. "Lynn's face curled up in distaste. "Not to mention she threw a ceramic wall decoration of praying hands at me the first night I stayed over. She's lucky she's dead or I'd have rung her neck."

In the kitchen the cabinet doors started opening and closing in quick succession making a barrage of noise followed by what sounded like the kitchen table being dragged across the floor and then unceremoniously flipped over. Almost in unison they all groaned, apparently Mrs. Alcott didn't appreciate being discussed in such a manner.

Ellen spoke up from the circle of Lynn's arms. "She was a world class bigot and racist. You'd think being dead and not safely inside the pearly gates would have given her pause to reconsider. Anybody else want to get the hell out of here? I'm not afraid of her and she knows it but right now she's giving me a headache. I'm hungry and irritated. Let's go to the Huddle House and get something fattening to eat and some pie."

Dee was off the bed before she was finished speaking, throwing everything back in the box, all except the black and white photo of Jonathon Alcott and Saul Carlisle. He wanted to know more about them, what had happened to them as a couple and how Saul Carlisle had wound up married to such a witch of a person. They looked so happy in the photo together that it had been a shock to see the tired, defeated face of an older Jonathon Alcott in their family portrait. Dee tucked the picture into the center of magazine he had found when he was pulling the box out from under the bed, satisfied that it wouldn't get damaged that way he carried it out with him determinedly ignoring the sounds of chaos going on the house.

The front door literally smacked him in the backside on his way out and threw him forward into Ryo who stumbled forward in turn right into Tank who Dee was gratified held her ground and kept both men from tumbling to the ground. He'd just caught his breath from that little adventure when a horrible shriek from inside the house caught him off and made his skin crawl. Would this madness never end? There was only some much of this a man could take before the constant adrenal rushes wore out his nerve endings. If he could drive home to get pie that's exactly what he would have done, packed it all end and driven nonstop until he was within NYC's borders, hell he'd even pay for pie for Tank and Lynn.

They had all just made the safety of their cars when all the lights in the house threw themselves on and off again. They were still doing it as they left. It's like the house couldn't stand them when they were there but were just as hungry for attention it craved when they were not.

Sitting over a triple plates of fries, two cokes and two sweet teas the two couples sat and nibbled while Ellen reigned court and told the stories she knew of the Marten's, the Carlisle's, the Alcott's and the unhappy circumstances when their paths crossed with the late Billie Louise Thompson.

(Part one of two. I'm not done with part two yet, as you can tell this is where all the different lines converge. I sincerely hope this wasn't a dry read for anyone as I know everyone still reading has waited a very long time for this to make its appearance. If all goes to plan I will have the second part posted either Saturday or Sunday, today is Friday. Things pick up speed again in the next chapter. Thank you so much to everyone who reads. Lots of love, Ladye.)


	18. Chap 18 Icebox Pies and Crackling Fires

Hi, this is Heather, also known as Ladye or Ladyegreen. I owe everyone out there an apology for disappearing for two years and leaving this story undone. It was wrong. To LifeAlchemist, I'm still here, I read every comment left and I reply if I can, I'm so sorry I've let you down like this and made you wait this long. Thank you for coming back for me and for waiting for me.

A lot has happened in two years, some good some bad. Health issues, money issues so much has happened it could be an improbable story itself.

I'm back. I'll finish this now. I'm not sure how many chapters are left because while my writing may have been vacant my mind wasn't and I think I came up with a better, more fleshed out path, for this story to go. This is going to be a bit disappointing because it's not very exciting for the first 75% or so but it is a crucial bit that ties the people Dee and Ryo have come to know, alive or dead, together. I'm a little bit rusty as well with the writing. It would be best to reread the chapter before it before tackling this one and if you catch a glaring error let me know!

For those who don't have an account here on but want to be able to reach me and get a response, ladyegreen at yahoo dot com. I'll get it and I will respond.

Much love to everyone. Here we go again, let's get the motor running because the next chapter is going to be on fire.

Story Starts Here:

The fries were really good, so was the pie, icebox lemon pie and the drinks were cold. The mystery wasn't so much a mystery when it came to Mr. Alcott, it was actually pretty straight forward. As a straight forward as anything can be when it comes to love and the responsibilities we will take on because of it.

Jonathan Alcott had loved Saul Carlisle, loved him enough that he stayed close to him all his life. Close enough that when Saul died Jonathan had stepped into his shoes to make sure the children he had left behind were cared for and not left alone with the predatory Billie Louise. Walter Marten had been Saul's cousin, his father's nephew, the boys had been raised together and were more like brothers than cousins. When Walter had lost his wife and then his life Saul had stepped in, marrying Billie Louise so he could watch over his godchild as best he could. On paper Billie Louise looked a lot better than she was in real life and it hadn't taken but a few carefully dropped hints about the girl's uncertain future for Saul to come scrambling to make her his legally and quickly.

And then Saul had died, JoJo (the boy) had been only seven or eight months old when it happened. Ugly rumors had persisted that Billie Louise was a Black Widow, that she was killing her husbands off but the reality was much more bleak and mundane. The car wreck had grievously injured Marten, damaging his spine, his legs, and lungs leaving behind a shell of the man he had once been, wrecked in both body and soul. Billie Louise had made herself available to him in his vulnerable state presenting herself as a kindly woman who would look after his beloved daughter when he was gone. She didn't have to kill him, he already had a foot in the grave, she had just had to wait him out.

Once he was gone she had the respect she felt she was owed as a married woman but more importantly she had Darlene, the daughter, and she angled her cap for the man she really wanted, Saul. Saul who was handsome, outgoing, and a hard worker for the paper mill; Saul who all the girls chased but none caught and who absolutely loved his godchild Darlene and would do anything for her. She had both the carrot and whip in one neat package and soon had husband number two on her arm and a baby on the way. And then one day there was a knock on the door, a policeman and one of plants foreman's on the other side, the cop looked sorry and the bossman ashen and sick, twisting his hat in his hands. Just like that Saul was gone, an aortic aneurysm at work, snapped out his light.

Billie Louise knew the rumors regarding her dead husband and Jonathan Alcott but she was a pragmatic woman and had no real desire to be a single mother to a girl she could barely tolerate and a new baby. He built the house for her and Billie Louise settled into a life that revolved around her church and the women who attended it. Sunday suppers on the church lawn, Wednesday night prayer meetings, fire and brimstone services, and a fancy array of dresses to wear to and from, occasionally carrying her famous pineapple layer cake in a Tupperware cake saver to share at the potluck dinners.

She put the quiet withdrawn man she had married in the ground decades later. She had left him at the kitchen table that morning as she went out to buy groceries and came back to find him slumped over his morning bowl of grits, deader than a doornail. The coroner said heart attack but less kindly people said "too much of that woman" maybe it was a little bit of both, whose to really say?

Ellen filled in the rest, by the time Jonathan Alcott had passed away both of the children he had married Billie Louise to protect had grown up and moved out of the house. Darlene was a lawyer specializing in child advocacy, fiercely independent, and living in Atlanta. JoJo had joined the Air Force and was currently living in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Billie Louise had passed away in her sleep one night and it wasn't until the following Sunday that her body had been found after having not shown up for church which everyone could agree was highly unlike her.

The children had not come home for her funeral. Darlene signed off on the necessary expenses, sent out the proper notices and had a beautiful bouquet of flowers sent to the funeral home with instructions for them to be donated to the church after the funeral. JoJo had sent a lovely card to the church with a donation for their missionary work in Haiti in lieu of flowers. The house fell into the gloom, alone out in the pines off a empty stretch of rural road and Darlene put it up for sale.

And here they all were in the present; Dee and Ryo on the bed, photos and scraps of paper between them, Ellen and Lynn leaning against the wall, the quiet tick of an old wind up clock counting off the seconds.

It was Lynn who broke the contemplative silence they were sharing, involuntarily yawning which seemed to bring Ellen back from where her mind had wandered. She yawned herself before pulling out of Lynn's arms to stretch.

"Okay my darlings. I think that is mine and Lynn's cue to be heading out the door. You two should get some yourself. I'll call you tomorrow and we can work out the details about how you want to handle things, if you intend to stay here until you're suppose to go back to New York or well, whatever the alternate plan would be." She gave each of them a hug and a peck on the cheek before ambling out, Lynn holding doors for her and Dee drifting behind her to shut and lock them.

Ryo carefully gathered all of the "evidence" and tapped the papers into a neat pile and returning them to their box. He was beyond tired and all he wanted to do was crawl in bed and not have to think anymore about the house or Billie Louise herself. Dee stumbled back into the room as he was turning down the covers on the bed, their duffle bags pulled from the car and dropped just inside the bedroom door. Thirty minutes later they had both changed into their sleep clothes and Ryo had insisted on gathering up everything and sorting everything so they could leave the next day. Dee had just numbly went along with it figuring it was easier to go along with Ryo's need to make order from chaos than to argue and loose even more time to sleep.

They were both just so very tired, too tired to do more than kiss each and snuggle into each other's arms. Strange how this place just seemed to sap the life out of if you with the heat and the humidity and the bleakness of the house itself. They both drifted off tangled in each other's limbs, peaceful in their weariness and deeply asleep.

In the end all they could do was watch the damn thing burn. One minute they were cuddled together asleep and the next they were grabbing their bags and fleeing the house. Well, to be more exact, one moment they were horizontal on the bed and the very next they were jerked upright with their hands over their ears; both struck deaf by the excruciating loudness of lightening striking a pine tree close to the house, followed by the equally loud and even more terrifying sound of said pine tree snapping off and crashing through the roof over their head. To complete this utterly perfect moment in time said tree was on fire.

Dee swore to his self he was never leaving New York City again and wasn't going to let Ryo leave either. On the other hand, a good burning to the ground couldn't have happened to a nicer house. Burn baby burn. Maybe it was worth it to stand with Ryo out in a drizzling rain just to see the last of the roof structure collapse into the house and good riddance.

By the time the fire truck arrived there wasn't much fire to put out, smoldering ruins and rain drenched pieces of what used to be furniture. Fortunately it was a pretty open and shut case of what caused the fire, the blackened remains of the pine tree sticking out of the house and the lightening scorched trunk stood in grim testament to the facts.

Ellen and her woman had just beat out the emergency vehicles and stood off to the side under an umbrella. The only comment she had made was that it was a damn shame she forgot to by marshmallows but no one told her there was going to be a bonfire tonight.

Ryo had been relatively quiet during the whole thing, his dark eyes were hard to read as various colored lights from the emergency vehicles reflected off of them. He continued to stare at the remains of the house as if he couldn't quite believe what just happened and how fast it had happened. It was left to Dee to call their bosses and explain the situation and make arrangements for them to get back home as soon as the authorities were done taking down their statements.

It wasn't until they were in the rental, following behind Lynn to her house to spend the night, that Ryo spoke. He turned in the passenger seat to look at Dee, studied him for a bit and then announced they were upgrading the fire and carbon monoxide alarms in both their apartments as soon as they got home. Silence fell for a minute or so more before he followed it up with his intention to also make sure the fire escapes were easily accessible and in good repair.

Dee nodded along because he knew all too well that Ryo would have him changing out alarms likely before their bags were unpacked and they were officially back at work. That was just Ryo for you and the way his mind worked, it wasn't like he didn't already have Dee changing out the batteries in those that weren't wired into the building every time day lights savings time changed. Dee waited because he knew Ryo wasn't quite done yet. The scenery slipped past, Ryo's eyes drawn to the tall skinny pines and how much they would bend and sway in the breeze, assessing them now as a bona fide threat to safety.

"Dee?"

"Hmm?"

"And the orphanage too." Ryo said quietly.

"You got it." Dee answered. Of course the orphanage too and probably a quick stop by Carol's home to verify it passed mustard and Dee was pretty sure Ryo's aunt would be getting at least a phone call. And the precinct; it would be getting a good eye over and at least an email sent to whatever various departments Ryo felt would need to be informed of the dangers of a building like that having such an old and antiquated system.

Dee stepped on the gas to keep up with Lynn and the very fact that Ryo didn't call him on his lead foot was all the indication Dee needed to know that Ryo had been completely unnerved by the fire.

-End of Snippet- (And it is, just a dreadfully small snippet, but I wanted to leave what I could while I work on the rest. Thank you to everyone out there who is still reading this story. )


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